Boiled Bananas and Vodka
by The Raven Queen
Summary: This is one whacky story. Be afraid Z fighters! Be very afraid. Cos the Earth's under threat once more, and the only hope is one mean green haired gal. What ever shall they do?
1. Foulmouthed and shnockeredEarth's last h...

Boiled Bananas and Vodka  
  
Chapter One: Foul mouthed and shnockered-earth's last hope?  
  
Authors note: Hehe.I'm an author! Yay.uhh, this story assumes a lot of things, by writing this in this particular time I have made it as if the Buu saga does not exist, please bear with me and imagine Goku and Vegeta reached SSJ two by other ways (fighting each other perhaps.?) it also assumes that Zarbon is not gay as the general consensus seems to be, and it also says that Goku is alive, sorry if this bothers you but ya gotta love that screwball grin, he has to be in, is that everything? Oh yeah, there is a bit of foul language, none of the "F*** you" business, but a few occasions of female dog and a lot of very fiery places, apologies if this bothers you but I am foul mouthed and aggressive by nature, so most of the main character was modelled off me (barring her abilities and looks, that's just what I want to be). Ummm.......ok I think that's it, I may have left out certain details and made Krillin bald again but I think that's everything, if there's anything I have forgotten to apologise for please forgive me as I beg you-the wonderful peoples in the wonderful world of oz- ahem.I mean the internet, down on my knees. By the way this is a freakily dark story touching on murder, insanity andpretty much a whole lot of vil, not the kind we normally see in DBZ, on the surface though it is just a major romance and girl-kicks-ass sort of story with the slightest bit of citrus, implied, not descriptive....I think. So if you hate mush don't swallow.  
  
K den das it den!  
  
Chou! Please don't hate me if you hate my story  
  
Quick pronunciation lesson  
  
Miko=Me-co (as in baldy & co. inc)  
  
Sheme=She-me (just so there's no confusion)  
  
Mika=Me-ca (as in cuppA)  
  
Karva=Car-va (like that narcotic drink made from roots that 15 mls in concentrated form will blind you and in 250 mls will kill you, I'm an expert on such things *_*)  
  
Sona=So-n-ya  
  
  
  
Sheme awoke with arms around him, he became aware of a lot of wind force buffeting against him, his sister was screaming, he closed his ears to her loud curses, she had told him never to listen to her when she swore, he realised some one was carrying him through the air. He glanced up and saw a short bald man with six stars tattooed on his forehead  
  
"Mr?" he asked urgently, tugging at the mans orange shirt, he looked dawn  
  
"Oh, you're awake, what is it?"  
  
"Mr, can you help my sister, she's really scared" them man looked to his left, Sheme followed his gaze, a large muscled man was trying to hold onto his sister without flying into a mountain, she was squirming and calling him every name under the sun, he heard a low whistle  
  
"She's got some tongue, I swear every female I know has a temper to make the greatest fighters in the universe cower in fear" Sheme, noticed that the big man had three eyes, but being the seven years that he was nothing seemed impossible  
  
"Don't worry kid, your sister will be fine" the bald man told him, he watched as his sister kicked free of the three eyed man's grasp and plummeted downwards, the man made a "here we go again" face and swooped after her  
  
Miko screamed as the ground approached, she closed her eyes tight, praying Sheme would be ok, when arms encircled her again. She cursed and bit the nearest thing. There was a grunt and a loud cuss word  
  
"For Dende's sake hold still!" an annoyed voice said. Her hair was all over her face, she cursed and wriggled harder. She felt a thud, and she was promptly dropped. She yelped as the ground leapt up to meet her. She heard Sheme laughing. She scrambled to her feet  
  
"Sheme!" she screamed, pulling her hair out of her eyes and looking wildly around. A short bald man was setting her little brother on his feet. He ran up to her  
  
"Hey! You ok?" he asked worriedly. Miko felt as if her knees would give out under her, She sank down to hug him, he gagged  
  
"Hey, I can't breath" he whined, she let him go, then spun to face the massive triclops  
  
"Who the hell do you think you are?! You do not just grab people, and then drop them out of the sky! You...you" she searched for a word and settled for the filthiest one she knew. A hand touched her arm; the bald man was next to her  
  
"Hey relax, we aren't going to hurt you"  
  
"Remove your hand before I bite it" she said sweetly, he backed away, saying something to the triclops  
  
"She's a bad as Bulma"  
  
"I heard that! What the hell do you want with us" she pulled Sheme closer to her, he was grinning from ear to ear  
  
"Well actually you are important to the survival of earth, all of us have been looking for you for ages, you're very important. Listen, if you let us take you to the others we'll explain everything" Miko considered  
  
"If either of you harms Sheme I will do everything in my power to ensure you suffer a most painful death" she said darkly, the bald man took a step back in fear, the triclops placed a hand on his shoulder  
  
"Let's just get this over with" the bald man nodded  
  
"Will you at least come with us, if not for anything else but to serve your curiosity?" he extended his hand, Miko paused then took it  
  
"Alright but Sheme rides with me" she told them  
  
Tien grinned at Krillin, he was carrying the pair of them, the girl was holding onto the kid tightly, and Krillin had his arms around her waist, he was blushing deeply. Tien grinned wider, the dark green haired girl didn't seem to notice one bit, she was too busy telling the boy off for repeating one of the many curses she had screeched in Tien's ears. He was surprised really, she was taller and more solidly built than he had expected, he had thought she would be smaller and more delicate looking and with less of a foul mouth. He started a little as she turned her head to see him staring at her. She scowled and said something to Krillin he didn't catch  
  
"So what's your name anyway?" Miko asked the bald man  
  
"Krillin" he told her without looking down. Miko was beginning to enjoy flying, the wind was sending her waist length hair into Krillin's face, she smirked and somehow twisted the thick curtain into a messy knot then stuffed it down the back of her shirt with one hand, keeping the other tightly around Sheme. Krillin nodded gratefully. Miko tightened her grip on Sheme again; the boy was enjoying the flight enormously, laughing and pointing at the landmarks below them  
  
Elsewhere..  
  
Piccolo felt Krillin and Tien approach, he scanned the sky, they would be a minute or so yet. He was curious to know what this woman looked like, he imagined her to be small and delicate looking, as were Vegeta and Goku's wives. Her father had been a real pretty boy he was told, but he guessed she would have a warriors build. Gohan nudged him as two specs appeared on the horizon. He crossed his arms and waited, a minute later they touched down. Piccolo gaped at the tall, well-built girl before him. She gaped at him  
  
"What is this place, first baldy, the triclops and now.....you" she gestured with her hands, Piccolo growled a little. He noted her hair as she pulled it out from the back of her shirt; it was the right colour. He also noted the little boy hiding behind her leg; he was not part of the plan. Gohan stepped forward as she shook her head around to free the dark emerald strands, he extended his hand, she stared sceptically at it  
  
"Hi, I'm Gohan" she scowled  
  
"I'm waiting" she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, Gohan indicated the Capsule Corp house behind them  
  
"Maybe you should come inside" she followed him through the door, the boy still clinging to her leg. Piccolo noticed she marched with a predatory air, like she was waiting to spring on something. A huntress  
  
Gohan wondered just how well she could fight, if she could not they would have to train her. He opened the door of the massive living room, Bulma was sitting on a couch with the rest of the z fighters, she stood up to greet them  
  
"Hi! I suppose these guys told you nothing," she said in a most cheerful tone  
  
"No" Miko told her frostily  
  
"I'm Bulma"  
  
"I want an explanation" Bulma sat down again  
  
"Maybe you should sit"  
  
"Maybe you should begin, or I walk. Now" Bulma sighed, not particularly liking this girl's out rightly hostile attitude  
  
"Most of the people in this room are fighters, they make up a group called the Z fighters; they defend earth"  
  
"So, who from?"  
  
"Evil bad guys and so on, the thing is, there's a dangerous threat near earth now, we need your help"  
  
"Go on"  
  
"The newest threat is a queen of a dead race, she means to destroy earth and you are the only on who knows how to defeat her"  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"We don't know but you should"  
  
"Never heard of this queen"  
  
"She's you twin"  
  
"I would know if I have a twin, how can she be off earth anyway, there are no space faring vessels here"  
  
"Not here, but in space there are, and we have spaceships now anyway"  
  
"So what's this about, I already know at least some of you are aliens" she indicated the green man  
  
"Most of them are"  
  
"Why am I not surprised" Miko shifted her weight, the green man was leaning against the wall, as was a short spiky haired man. He caught her eye for a second. She scowled at him and returned her attention to Bulma  
  
"Go on"  
  
"She is identical to you in every way except that she is evil and wants to blow up earth, and you don't"  
  
"What make you so sure"  
  
"I don't know, you don't seem the type"  
  
"Really, however did you guess? I mean earth is only the only spot I know in this merry little solar system with breathable air" she said sarcastically  
  
Bulma sighed; she was getting frustrated  
  
"You are the only way to stop her, you share a telepathic link, I bet when you dream you hear her thoughts, you are both descended from an alien race, neither of your parents were human, we know who your father was though, his name was Zarbon"  
  
"Riiiiight" the girl nodded sarcastically  
  
"Believe me this is true, anyway, your mother was killed and you were separated, one of you got sent here by accident, and the other was raised by a man name Freiza, he's been dead for nearly a decade now"  
  
"Yeah. Right"  
  
"You're an orphan"  
  
"Then how do you explain my little brother?"  
  
"The family you were adopted into as a child, it explains your hair; Zarbon's legacy"  
  
"So he's dead then"  
  
"Good thing too, he's tried to kill a few of us" Piccolo cut in  
  
"Go dad" she raised an eyebrow sarcastically  
  
"If Sheme is my adoptive brother, then how did I get here?"  
  
"I have no idea, ship, pod, if I knew I'd tell you"  
  
"How do you know all this?"  
  
"Outside sources, the guardian of this planet told us to find you, he wants to speak to you if you agree"  
  
"Does it involve being carried at hundred's of miles per hour three hundred feet above the ground by a hulking idiot"  
  
Silence  
  
"Yes" Bulma said after a pause. The girl uttered an extremely dirty cuss word extremely loudly, Bulma winced, she preferred not to use language such as this in the presence of Trunks, who was staring at the emerald haired girl as if she were a space oddity  
  
"But only till you get to the lookout"  
  
"And just where is that?" her voice was deadly, Bulma paused again  
  
"In the upper atmosphere"  
  
"Did I mention I am most utterly afraid of heights?" she paled slightly  
  
"You are going whether you like it or not girl" Vegeta cut in, the girl scowled at him, muttering about muscle as opposed to brain. Bulma guessed this girl had a strong intellect from the choice of words she wielded.  
  
Miko cast a glance at the one who called himself Gohan, he was poised; she guessed ready to restrain the spiky haired one. She smirked and spoke a few scathing words. He lunged at her. She blinked, Gohan was holding him back, at this she smirked wider  
  
"Take your best shot, I'm only your only hope after all" the spiky haired one threw Gohan off and stalked away. Bulma was staring at her  
  
"No one insults Vegeta" Miko scowled  
  
"I don't respond well to orders" she said deliberately, Gohan grinned  
  
"So umm, what's your name?"  
  
"Miko" she regarded him, he was a few inches taller than her, and he had unruly ebony hair. She noticed he was well toned with defined muscles, she supposed he could be considered cute, and his face was kind and his eyes twinkled, but he came off incredibly naive. He had a solid sort of build, his shoulders made wider by a lifetime's worth of trained muscles she guessed. He blushed slightly as her gaze flicked over him before resting on his eyes  
  
"You want a drink?" Bulma stepped in. Miko noted Gohan had almost shrunk from her stare, people did that; she attributed it to having golden eyes. She turned to the blue haired woman and half smiled  
  
"Why not? I could use a stiff drink" Bulma smiled  
  
"Now you know how I feel every time the guys go running off to save the world" a tall dark haired woman got up, she was not as tall as Miko but tall none the less  
  
"I'm Chichi" Miko grinned, the woman's eyes told her Chichi was not one to annoy unless you liked to fight, and Miko did  
  
"You're a fighter too" she said shrewdly, Chichi grinned  
  
"I was, a while back I was the strongest female fighter on earth"  
  
"Then you met a guy"  
  
"Yup"  
  
"Such is the ways of chauvinism" Chichi nodded knowingly  
  
"What'll you drink?" Bulma asked  
  
"Anything stronger than whisky, I have a lot to digest" Bulma nodded understandingly  
  
"Come on then, I'll show you to the kitchen, you'll be staying for a while" Miko started but followed her anyway, she had not realised she would be staying with these people  
  
Bulma led Miko through the maze of corridors to the kitchen, she indicated a stool at the bar of sorts and Miko collapsed into it, her little brother still clinging to her leg. Bulma stuck her head back through the door they had come through  
  
"TRUNKS" he came running  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, Goten trailing behind him  
  
"Why don't you guys take Miko's little brother outside and play" Trunks nodded, his nine year old head bobbing in the cute mushroom cut that suited him so well, Bulma turned to Miko who nodded to the small boy clutching at the leg of her combat pants, she smiled a little and detached him as he tried to hold onto her heavy army boots  
  
"Go on Sheme, they won't bite" he grinned and raced away with the lavender and ebony haired boys. As soon as he had gone Miko completely lost her cool composure and buried her head in her hands, sobbing quietly, Bulma placed a hand on her shoulder  
  
"Come on, it'll be ok. I know it's a big shock" Miko didn't look up  
  
"For god's sake, I was hauled through the air and high speed by a hulking oaf, then dropped three times, my little brother was kidnapped by a man half my height, then a huge green man appears and some idiot who looks like he'd rather kill me than speak civilly nearly jumps on me!" she wailed  
  
"Hey, it's alright, you're just in shock" Miko raised her head, her lip quivering  
  
"I need some reading material, what's the history of this little group of yours" Bulma grinned, Miko was displaying a thirst for knowledge  
  
"I compiled a database going right back to Master Roshi"  
  
"Hey I've heard of him, I went to the martial arts tournament, one of his students was competing, I was about three"  
  
"You can't be older than twenty then"  
  
"People take me for a lot older than I am"  
  
"I suppose they think Sheme is yours then"  
  
"I let people believe that so we wouldn't get split up, our parents, my adoptive parents died three years back"  
  
Miko wasn't sure why she was divulging this but Bulma seemed nice enough. Chichi suddenly entered  
  
"Hey, the others were wondering if you wanted to come for a flight to get used to it" Miko paled  
  
"I hate heights" her face went slightly green  
  
"I need alcohol" she said, Bulma poured her a small glass of brandy, she downed it in a gulp  
  
"Got any vodka?"  
  
*  
  
Goku look up as the dark emerald haired girl strolled out, her movements were slow and deliberate  
  
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked  
  
"No" she snapped  
  
"I just found out I'm not even human! Would you be ok" she said sharply  
  
"Most of us have gone through that"  
  
"I don't care! You weren't kidnapped before! Or dropped" she said glaring at Tien. Piccolo, Tien, Goku and Krillin were gathered on the lawn  
  
"You'll get over it" Krillin said comfortingly  
  
"I'm in shock you idiot! Of course I'll get over it, or it'll kill me!" she snapped. Then plonked herself on the grass, there was an awkward silence  
  
"I'm also half drunk" she murmured sleepily  
  
"O..k" Tien said uncertainly  
  
"Shut up!" she told him frustratedly, he retreated  
  
"So how many of you actually qualify as human? And I have another question" Goku smiled with relief  
  
"Well, me Vegeta, Piccolo, and Chou zu are all completely non human and Trunks, Goten and Gohan are half 'n' half"  
  
"You mean the triclops, I never got his name, counts as human?"  
  
"Yeah I do" Tien said quietly  
  
Miko was surprised, he had quite a hoarse voice, but it was gentle, almost soft  
  
"Whatever, now my other question"  
  
"Shoot"  
  
"Who exactly was my mother? I mean if I was adopted." there was silence, and then a voice reverberated inside her head  
  
"A woman named Zan; she was of a race similar to humans, the colouring was similar, very similar, she was a guaran, from the planet Guar"  
  
"What the hell."  
  
"My name is King Kai. I am communicating telepathically with you, I train fighters in the northern part of the universe, you have great potential my dear, you could become the equal of anyone here, you have two forms you know"  
  
"Ok, number one, get the hell out of my head. Number two, what makes you think I give a dam about my potential; I'm already a fighter. And number three, how the hell do you know this"  
  
"I am the over see-er of the northern part of the universe, show a little more respe-"  
  
"Shut up! You talk too much, now out!" Miko ordered to the voice, it disappeared  
  
"Did anyone else hear that?"  
  
"Uh huh, no one's ever spoken to King Kai like that"  
  
"By the way what do I call you guys?" the tall man with the impossible hair grinned, he had the same face as Gohan. Miko had a suspicion they were both related to Chichi. There was something about his manner that told her Gohan was Chichi's son  
  
"The green one is Piccolo, and that's Tien, and you already know Krillin and I'm Goku, and the one with the tall hair, that was Vegeta, and he's married to Bulma and the kid with the purple hair is their son, Trunks, and then there's Chichi; my wife and our two sons, Gohan, you know him and Goten, the little version of me, and the one with the short hair, in normal clothes, that's Yamcha, and then there's Chou zu, the little white one you saw before. And I think that's all of us, oh yeah, and Master Roshi, he's not here, but you'll meet him soon"  
  
"Cool" she said, lying back on the grass, her hair only a shade darker, sprawling out under her head, Goku noticed Tien staring, he grinned as Miko closed her eyes. Tien noticed Goku grinning at him and looked away, a slight blush on his cheeks  
  
"So how old are you?" Miko yawned  
  
"Old enough if that's what you're asking. I've had too much to drink, geez Bulma has good whisky" they all grinned, she was obviously a hardened drinker  
  
"She sure does, none of us drinks much"  
  
"I know, she said" Miko told him drowsily  
  
"I think I'm going to fall asleep now, maybe when I wake up this will all be a dream" she yawned widely again and her breathing evened out  
  
*  
  
Miko felt herself gently shaken awake, Tien was standing above her, it was dark  
  
"Hey it's night, do you want to go inside? Bulma would kill us if we left you out here" Miko yawned  
  
"Whatever, by the way, where am I supposed to sleep if you expect me to stay here?" Tien grinned, his three floating faces blurring slightly. Miko shook her head and they merged together as one  
  
"Come inside and Bulma will show you I guess" he extended his hand and Miko took it uncertainly, he pulled her to her feet as if she were a feather  
  
"Whoa" she wobbled a bit  
  
"I think you had a bit much to drink"  
  
"I think you might be right" she giggled as he slung her arm over his shoulder and helped her back into the massive house  
  
"I guess I didn't sleep long enough, but believe me, when you get a shock like that alcohol really helps" she said, her words slightly slurred, Tien just grinned as he helped her into the room she had first met them all, Bulma was chatting to Chichi, they were drinking cups of a steaming liquid Miko guessed could be tea  
  
"Hey Miko, still not over the whisky yet?" Miko nodded dazedly  
  
"I think I had just a little bit too much" she indicated a large space between her index finger and her thumb  
  
"It's been a while since I had anything that strong" she wobbled a bit. Nearly falling over, Tien steadied her. She noticed Bulma grinning at her  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, come on, I'll show you to your room" Miko turned to follow her when she tripped, a hand shot out and grabbed her, she winced, the grip was a little tight on her arm  
  
"Maybe you should carry her Tien, I didn't realise she'd had so much to drink" Miko heard the words but her vision was completely fuzzy, she felt herself lifted of the ground, she giggled, alcohol always took a while to sink in  
  
"You're gonna have a bit of a hangover when you see Dende" she giggled again, some one set her down on something soft, the last of her vision disappeared, she yawned and everything went black  
  
Tien shook his head in wonder  
  
"She's crazy" Bulma nodded and left the room with him  
  
"She's just had a shock that's all, I mean if she thought her brother was in any danger she most likely wouldn't have drunk anything but she seems to trust us. I think when she sees Dende we'll all know more. Hell! You're covered in scratches" Bulma indicated her own neck, Tien touched his gingerly, pain shot through his flesh  
  
"Yeah, she was hysterical, geez she's got a mouth on her, she scratched me pretty bad. I dunno if she meant to or was just trying to hold on"  
  
"Maybe both" Tien nodded  
  
"I'll find you a room somewhere, we may as well stay centralised"  
  
"Nah, I'm staying at Master Roshi's, so are the others, hey listen, it might be a good idea if you flew Miko up to the lookout, I don't think anyone really wants another set of these" he indicated the welts on his lower neck. Bulma shook her head  
  
"I can't, I have three appointments in the morning and a deadline on my latest project, maybe she won't hurt you to bad next time" she grinned a little, in the semi dark Tien blushed deeply  
  
"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow then" he waved and disappeared in the semi dark of the hallway, Bulma sighed and switched on the fluorescent lights, she closed the door on Miko who was sleeping soundly, the effects of a lot of whisky finally kicking in, Bulma had been surprised at how long it had taken her to realise she was drunk; the emerald haired girl hadn't appeared even tipsy until well after she had stopped drinking. She shook her head smiling and strolled to her own room expecting to find a very smelly and ticked off Vegeta, the Son family had already left, Piccolo was up at the lookout, Krillin had gone home, he said 18 couldn't come, and everyone else had headed for Master Roshi's. Yamcha was staying here though. She grinned, wondering what would happen if he and Vegeta met in the halls. Though Yamcha had given up fighting he was still keen to help save the world. She found it hard to believe that the solid looking highly hostile and foul mouthed girl could possibly be the only hope for the earth, she made a mental note not give her alcohol anymore, she couldn't save the world from her evil twin if she was shnockered.  
  
Authors note: ok so this one was a little boring but the next one has plenty more action in it, I promise. Uh, I'm getting addicted to writing authors notes! ~_^ But please feel free to email me with insults, ideas, compliments (especially compliments) and ways I can improve on the original chapter, I have a I thing about writing the whole girl-kicks-ass scenario, so sorry guys, that part most likely will not change. But other than that! Buh by!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
Written by The Raven Queen 


	2. Things go wrongpain, anger and acting

Chapter Two: Things go wrong-pain, anger and acting  
  
Miko opened her eyes to bright morning sunlight. She blinked as pain exploded inside her head. She groaned and fell right off the double bed. She had a strong urge to throw up. There was a knock at the door, Miko pulled what seemed like half of her hair out of her mouth and face and dragged herself off the floor and out of the tangled heap of bedclothes, but promptly landed on her butt again. This time she was careful to dismember the offending sheets before getting to her feet again. She did not notice that her shirt had somehow found it's way on backwards and that her pants were slung down to her hips, the side seam facing the front.  
  
"Come in" she called groggily, her mouth was dry and she felt extremely sick, Bulma stuck her head around the door, her eyes flicked over the ruffled clothing and she smiled a little. Miko did not notice  
  
"Good you're up, breakfast in twenty minutes, the bathroom's at the end of the hall" Miko nodded, supporting herself by holding onto the nightstand  
  
"You got any painkillers? My head feels like it's going to pop" Bulma grinned  
  
"Yeah, you seemed to get more smashed after you stopped drinking" Miko nodded and nearly fell over the bedclothes her foot was still tangled in  
  
"Yeah that happens, it's weird but alcohol always takes like twenty minutes to have any effect, this usually results in me getting shnockered long before I know it" Bulma's smile widened  
  
"Yeah I used to drink a lot, then I had Trunks"  
  
"Kids really change things, by the way, I was too drunk to notice, but where is Sheme?" Bulma grinned just a little wider  
  
"He slept in Trunks' room, they get on quite well. They're next on the list for a wake up call, do you want to leave him here when you go up to the look out?"  
  
"Maybe, depends on what he wants, but I'm still not sure about this look out thing. I mean I really am terrified of heights, and flying, and flying at speed when not in a vehicle of some kind" Bulma nodded  
  
"You'll get used to it, one of them will have to carry you" Miko made a face  
  
"Great, they'll be sorry soon enough. I hate being carried" Bulma laughed  
  
"I'll leave you to get cleaned up, everything's in the bathroom, and I'll lend you some clothes too" Miko nodded  
  
"K" her head was still throbbing but she was thinking clearly now  
  
"See you in twenty minutes" Bulma closed the door. Miko rearranged the covers on the bed so it had some semblance of being made and headed down the corridor; it was lined with about five doors. At the end was a door marked bathroom, she pushed open the door to yet another large room. Everything in this place was big; the house itself was over six stories. After closing the door she shed her clothes quickly and turned on the shower, she grinned at the vanity, it was lined with very product under the sun; she had never used skin care stuff, or even dressed up really. She took one of the silken hair ties and twisted her thick hair into a bun of sorts, steam rose from the shower, she stepped under the warm water, smiling into the steady stream.  
  
Bulma called through the door  
  
"Breakfast in fifteen minutes you two!" she heard thuds and muffled yelps, and a small swear word, she scowled and opened the door  
  
"No swearing in this house," she said sternly, Sheme detangled himself from the pile of bedclothes  
  
"Sorry, my sister always tells me off for talking like her" he grinned at her  
  
"Sorry about the mess, Mrs Brief" Bulma smiled  
  
"It's no different from when Trunks gets up" she walks across the room and shoved her still sleeping son out of bed  
  
"Mum! I'm tired," he moaned, she grinned and pulled away the covers  
  
"Too bad, you shouldn't have stayed up so late then"  
  
Tien landed to see Miko sitting on the grass waiting. She had a funny expression on her face. Gohan and Goku weren't far behind. He noted they had left Goten behind. He stared at Miko, she didn't look half as bedraggled as before, her emerald hair was drawn into a thick plait at the base of her neck and she was wearing clothes he could only guess were Bulma's, without the long loose clothing she seemed much better looking. A short wine red sleeveless shirt covered her top half, ending an inch above her navel, accenting her curves, and below those were greyish black hipster jeans, fully revealing from hem to lower hem about three inches of flat, smooth mid riff, he noted her arms were far from frail, the absence of sleeves displaying toned muscle, yet her arms were not excessive, just right he thought  
  
"Hi again" she said, she sounded strange  
  
"Still hung over?" he asked, she nodded  
  
"Only just, but geez Bulma has good painkillers too" Tien grinned as Gohan and Goku landed, Gohan whistled low  
  
"Heck you look different" she scowled slightly  
  
"Well, when you're snatched into the sky by a triclops you tend to not look your best" Tien noticed she was actually a lot thinner than she had first appeared, and a good deal more shapely, her curves running in smooth rounded lines, but she was by no means delicate, her shoulders still suggested strength and power, and he supposed her long legs were nothing but smooth, toned muscle.  
  
Miko remained calm but she was not comfortable in such revealing clothes, she was used to wearing bulky things that hid her frame, making her appear more formidable. She shifted a little as Gohan whistled; she did not like the way they were all staring at her, Krillin landed  
  
"Hey-wow" she was annoyed now, she still had a headache and she didn't want to field anything else  
  
"You say one word and you die," she said threateningly  
  
"Ok, maybe we'd better get going then, who wants to carry her" Goku said to the others  
  
There was silence, Goku could see Gohan shifting uncomfortably, a slight blush playing across his cheeks, Tien stood stock still, Goku himself wasn't looking forward to the same treatment Tien had gotten, they had all seen the marks on his face, and he supposed Krillin didn't want to get it from 18, he knew Chichi wouldn't be pleased either, there were only a few of them, it seemed pointless for all of them to make the journey, suddenly Yamcha appeared  
  
"Hey guys, I just finished breakfast" he suddenly noticed Gohan staring at the ground  
  
"Gohan?" the boy blushed deeper. He heard a snort  
  
"For god's sake, I hate this as much as you guys, alright" Miko told him irritably  
  
"Ok" Gohan said, he offered Miko his hand who allowed him to pick he r up, Goku grinned, Gohan was blushing deeply, Miko was scowling as he arranged her so best not to drop her while being out of her finger range, she was getting impaTient  
  
"Look, like this" she shifted his hands around her slightly, Gohan blushed further then seemed to settle  
  
"Ready?" he asked, she winced and placed her arms around his neck, he rose slowly into the air, she shut her eyes tight and nodded, they all shot off  
  
Miko slowly opened an eyes, she was holding on for dear life, she noticed Gohan turning slightly blue, she loosened her grip slightly, not daring to look down  
  
"You ok?" he asked, he was still blushing. She wondered how old he was  
  
"I hope" she said, he smiled reassuringly and she felt gravity claw at her, they were going up, she glanced at the rapidly disappearing ground. She yelped and clung to him, she heard a strangled gasp and loosened her grip again  
  
"Just how fast are we going?"  
  
"About triple the speed of light, don't worry. If you fall I can catch you before you've gone ten metres"  
  
"How comforting" she said dryly  
  
Gohan sighed, her nails were digging into his neck, her grip tightened at regular interval and only when he turned blue did she realise he was choking, he sighed again as she loosened her grip again, slowly relaxing. The gleaming white of Karin tower came into view, he slowed to a halt so as not to catapult his passenger out of his arms. His father, Yamcha, Krillin and Tien were waiting for him, he had gone slightly slower than them, his father was talking to Karin, the white cat looked up as Gohan landed  
  
"Hey who's the babe" Miko scowled as he put her down. She stalked over to the cat, who seemed to have realised this was not a girl to call babe, she towered over him and snarled  
  
"Unless you want my foot so far up your ass you can taste what I stepped in last week you will never call me that again" she told him angrily, he cowered, inching away  
  
"Ok, ok I get it" suddenly she looked up, Yajirobe was standing with his jaw hanging open  
  
"Hey who's the babe" he addressed Goku  
  
Miko flew at him her fist drawn back, suddenly she was jerked off her feet, some one had her in a strangle hold without actually trying to stretch her ribs until they broke apart, she had been in several before, it had not been fun. They were lifting her just off her feet, she cursed and swore, driving her feet up behind her she heard a grunt and she was dropped, she landed on her feet and swung around. Goku was doubled over  
  
"Geez I wasn't ready for that" he squeaked, she noticing Krillin and Tien smirking  
  
"She's actually got quite a high fighting power"  
  
"Probably just doesn't know how to use ki so she channels it into speed and strength"  
  
"She looks like a warrior, though the only female fighter we know is 18 and you wouldn't be able to tell with her"  
  
"Well there is Chichi I guess but under that kimono. There's really nothing to compare"  
  
"Will you please stop speaking about me as though I am not here!" she said loudly, these people were irritating in their chauvinism, she gritted her teeth and strode back to Gohan  
  
"Is this the look out?"  
  
"No this is Karin's place, he lives below the look out. We stopped to say hi"  
  
"Can we go now?"  
  
"Just a minute"  
  
"I'm counting"  
  
Goku straightened up  
  
"Long time no see" Karin nodded  
  
"She wouldn't be the one Dende wants would she?"  
  
"Yup, dam it she kicks hard" Karin grinned  
  
"Rather you than me Goku, hang on, I'll get something to eat" the cat disappeared down the stairs, Yajirobe was hiding behind a table, Miko was at the edge of the lookout, hurling her breakfast over the side and marvelling at the sight of the stuff flying downwards  
  
"Cool" she said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand  
  
"I need a drink of water, is there anywhere I can get some?" Yajirobe jumped forward  
  
"I'll get you some...babe" he said as an after thought, she whirled around, her eyes flashing, but Yajirobe was already gone, she cursed and turned back to lean over the balcony, Yajirobe reappeared with a glass of water, she took it without a word, took a gulp and spat it over the edge, repeated this process then swallowed the rest in a gulp handing the glass back to Yajirobe, who was staring at her behind, she ignored him while Karin returned and struck up a conversation with Goku  
  
Tien scowled disgustedly at Yajirobe, Miko was ignoring him he noticed, probably giving up on him treating her like a person, her long green plait hung down past her elbows, as she looked down  
  
"How high up is this place?" she asked no one in particular, Krillin answered  
  
"About forty thousand metres" she grimaced  
  
"Geezuz, how'd you get me here so fast?"  
  
"A lot of training" Gohan told her smiling. He came to stand near her as she squinted at the clouds  
  
"It's peaceful up here," she said quietly  
  
"Yeah it is" Tien said even quieter, he noticed Krillin smirking at him. He looked away. Miko straightened up  
  
"Can we go now or I swear I'll climb the next god knows how any miles up" Gohan grinned  
  
"Only four more to go" he offered her his hand again and she placed her arms around his neck, he lifted her as if she would break, she scowled disgustedly  
  
"You are going to teach me to fly," she told him sternly  
  
"I hate being carried" Gohan nodded and called to is father  
  
"Let's go dad," Goku tipped yet another bowl of something into his mouth, somehow unhinging his jaw to get it all down and got up and joined them. They all leapt off the edge, Miko buried her green head in Gohan's shoulder at the sudden lurch.  
  
Miko closed her eyes, her empty stomach performing gymnastics within her.  
  
"Careful" Gohan said half strangled, she removed her finger nails from the skin of is neck  
  
"Sorry" she choked out before her stomach forced her to close her mouth  
  
"We'll be there in about ten minutes" Gohan told her, she nodded, her face deathly white  
  
"Geezuz, this is not the way to travel when you have hangover" Gohan grinned  
  
"I wouldn't know, I've never tried alcohol"  
  
"Don't, it's not worth it"  
  
"Then why do you drink it?"  
  
"Because if you drink enough any floor's comfortable, and any shock is like nothing"  
  
"Oh"  
  
"Don't try it, it ain't worth it"  
  
"Ok I won't" she grinned dazedly and rested her head on his chest, protecting her face from the strong winds as they shot upwards  
  
Piccolo sensed their approach, the girl had shown a fair bit of power there, she could most likely equal himself with some good training, though he would not train her, she was a pathetic woman, she was afraid of heights for Dende's sake! Tien, Goku, Yamcha and Krillin appeared and landed quickly, Gohan came up much slower, Piccolo saw he had been the unlucky one to carry Miko. She had buried her head in his gi, he could see the welts on Gohan's neck where she had him in a death grip, he pried her head away and slowly set he one her feet, she stepped away from him and promptly stumbled, coming very close to the edge, Piccolo jumped up, but Tien was already there, steering her towards the centre of the tiles, Dende came out to meet them. Tien held her by the shoulders until she regained her balance and looked around  
  
Miko's first impression was "big". A smaller version of Piccolo without the constant scowl in a strange tunic thing extended his hand  
  
"Hello, I am Dende the guardian of this planet" Miko looked him up and down, he was scrawny as anything, she supposed he could be no older than 18, possibly sixteen  
  
"Hi" she said, not taking his hand, too much had happened for her normal social instincts to kick in, she supposed they were in shock too  
  
"I suppose you've had a bit of a shock and I hear you hate flying so you must be feeling a bit hostile" Miko scowled, he was too perceptive for her liking. She was a private person; what was her business was her business, she didn't like it how he seemed to know immediately what was running through her head.  
  
"Well I think we have a lot to talk about, Miko isn't it?" the green boy withdrew his hand at last, Miko nodded; nothing shocked her anymore. Dende indicated she follow him, she scowled a little, a hand touched her shoulder, she turned to see Tien  
  
"Hey don't worry, you can trust him, what's he gonna do?" she scowled but nodded, she followed Dende a hundred yards or so closer to the massive structure she guessed was a dwelling of sorts, he turned and indicated to a man of dark complexion who was bringing out a wickerwork chair from the doorway to her  
  
"Take a seat" Miko complied, her stomach still pitching but empty  
  
"This is Mr Popo, he helps me up here"  
  
"I hate heights," Dende laughed  
  
"Yeah I guessed that, you cut Tien and Gohan up pretty bad"  
  
"Tien was intentional actually, but Gohan it was holding on" he grinned and seated himself in another chair the stout man had just reappeared with  
  
"Now, I suppose you have a lot of questions" she nodded  
  
"I trust you have the answers"  
  
"Some, I think you have more than you're letting on though" Miko frowned, this little worm was way too perceptive for her liking  
  
"We'll see, now, how the hell did you find me?"  
  
"I see the whole planet up here, the guardian's job is to protect the planet, I know where everyone is at any given time" Miko was getting more edgy every second  
  
"What exactly do you want me to do to kill this twin of mine, which I still don't believe I have"?  
  
"Well I don't want her killed, not if we can help it anyway, you see your father's race, Zarbon, had two forms, one exceptionally good looking" Miko raised an eyebrow  
  
"And the other three times more powerful but considerably more reptilian and much larger, my theory is, that Zarbon's race never had twins, resulting in the two forms, I think because of your mother's DNA that you are one form and your twin is the other, only instead of the whole beauty and the beast set up it goes good and evil, both equally powerful, and because of this you share a telepathic link, but you can also merge together, creating one all powerful being, a being none of us, even at their full potential could destroy, at the present moment none of us is strong enough to beat your twin now so you are the only hope, you see at any strength no male could defeat her, she has a power over them, and 18 is the only other female fighter, and she is nowhere near strong enough"  
  
"How comforting, I have another one, if we are equally powerful then how is she so hard to beat, I mean you and the short guy are the only ones I could beat the crap out of up here and you tell me my other half is evil and wants to steal my soul so she can destroy everything I know, and then you expect me to find some way of saving your asses, for god's sake, how am I supposed to know how to save earth, until yesterday I survived for the last three years on nothing, what makes you think I have any idea how to save earth, I can barely look after my brother" Dende smiled  
  
"You're a lot smarter than you think, and also your twin has been trained since infanthood by the strongest naturally occurring evil warrior the universe had ever known, had you received the same you would be at the same level. So you're actually quite strong for a woman with little to no intensive training"  
  
"And you're incredibly annoying.and chauvinistic"  
  
"Well that's a new one, listen, what's going on is, your twin wants you, so she can merge with you and become the most powerful being in the universe"  
  
"Why don't you just kill me then?"  
  
"A few of the Z fighters wanted to"  
  
"Which one" her voice was deadly  
  
"Maybe I should just say they won't try"  
  
"I said which one" the green kid shifted uncomfortably  
  
"Anyway, the only way to beat her is you, you share a telepathic link, you can hear her thoughts at times, your personality is influenced by hers, you share the same interests, when she feels pain so do you, I bet you suddenly get an ache or a sharp pain for no reason" Miko's eyes had gone wide  
  
"But that's just nerve damage, I have a mild form of epilepsy, nerves misfire and it results in a seizure, only my case is more mild, it's a medical condition"  
  
"No it isn't, it is your twin"  
  
"No, you're lying" Miko was out of her seat, backing away  
  
Piccolo phased in behind her. She swung around wide-eyed  
  
"Will you people quit doing that!" she said exasperatedly. Piccolo grabbed her wrists and lifted her off her feet. She drove her heels into his shins, her five eleven feet of height nothing to his seven. He half dragged her back to Dende and dropped her into the wickerwork seat,  
  
"Stay" he ordered, placing himself behind, her filthy language still ringing in his ears, she never used the same curse twice, allowing for the largest vocabulary he had ever heard  
  
"That's it" she got up and drove her fist into his gut, he doubled up as she sprinted past him, he wondered what she thought she was doing, there was no way she could go anywhere  
  
Miko was severely annoyed, if that was how they were going to play she'd see just how they responded to this, she increased her speed as she shot past Tien, Gohan and Krillin. She kicked Goku in the head on his way to intercept her and threw herself over the edge, she heard curses from above as she fell, she knew they would be along any minute now, she folded her arms and propelled herself towards the tower, having no idea where she was going, she reached out and grabbed a rung of the ladder she had seen on the way up, fury overpowering her fear. There was a sharp jerk on her shoulder as she came to a stop. She heard whooshes as six streaks shot past her, she smirked and swung her feet onto a rung and steadied herself, she placed both hands on the outside of the ladder of sorts, her jeans hindering her movements, she then released her grip with her feet, her sneakers sliding against the narrow tower.  
  
Goku scanned the sky for any sign of her, he wondered where she could have gotten to, there was no way she could have fallen as fast as they could fly, he scouted for a sign of her ki, but it was so indistinct he couldn't find a location, he turned and began a lightning fast spiral around the tower, he saw Gohan copying his pattern while Tien and Yamcha shot upwards, she was too important to lose, he wished Piccolo hadn't gone and scared her like that. He wondered what she had meant to do by jumping off a lookout eight miles up. Maybe she could fly and just wasn't letting on, but they would have sensed her by now. He scratched his head as the ground approached. He searched the ground but found nothing out of the ordinary, no spec that could be her. He turned and shot upwards  
  
Miko swung behind the tower as she slid steadily downwards, two streaks were coming back up, they passed her without stopping, she kept going, loosening her grip with her sneakers to speed up, they were rapidly burning away, she tightened her hands again. As another streak came spiralling back up she reached out to grab a rung an swung just behind the tower as the faintly blurred form passed, she repeated this process three times, Counting to herself as she neared her first stop, one to go, she jumped away from the tower and landed with a jolt, she glanced down at the pitiful remnants of her sneakers, she grinned, none of them knew what she was capable of. She slunk to the white pole that was the tower she had come down, another streak shot past. She crouched low, it was the green one, she saw him slow down, she flattened herself against the opposite side of he tower, away from him. He sped up and kept going.  
  
Karin fell of his stool when the babe suddenly swung in from above, holding onto the roof and swinging what was left of expensive looking sneakers into his face, he shook his head, she standing over him, her bare foot on his throat  
  
"Listen cat" she hissed, and knelt down  
  
"Shut your mouth, you didn't see me got it" he nodded, his skin going red underneath his fur, she smirked and grabbed his cane, and sprinted down his stairs, he heard thuds and yelps and curses that could only belong to Yajirobe as the babe smashed the living daylights out of him  
  
Miko grabbed the capsule marked "ship" and took it back up the stairs. The cat was back on his stool  
  
"You know there's no point, I mean if you don't help them earth will be destroyed"  
  
"Do I look like I care right now?" she said, her hair was half undone, and her hands and jeans were extremely dirty, as if she had just jumped through a smoke screen, she looked up and down, there was another streak coming, she had a feeling they would be going up and down for a while, she jumped back, concealing herself under the cat's table, the fat man's sword twisted between his shoulder blades  
  
"Remember, you haven't seen me" she hissed, the cat nodded as Gohan landed a few feet away, Miko held her breath  
  
"Hey Karin, have you seen that girl?"  
  
"No Gohan, why do you ask?" the cat said smoothly, Miko pressed a little harder with the sharp blade  
  
"Well she kind of' jumped off the lookout, and ummm....we can't find her"  
  
"Could she have fallen the whole way?"  
  
"She's not heavy enough, she's actually quite light" Miko scowled, Gohan was blushing  
  
"And we fly at over five times the speed of light, anyway, I'm thinking she might be able to fly, I mean she could if she knew how" Miko scowled deeper and twisted the blade just a little, the cat almost jumped  
  
"No I haven't seen her, bit I'll let you know if I do" Gohan nodded  
  
"Ok, we'll be flying up and down for a while, Dende says he'll try and locate her from up there" Miko nearly growled, little bastard, she went through every unholy name in her head she could place on the green kid's head, Gohan was saying good bye, he turned and jumped over the edge, Miko waited a few seconds, before jumping out from under the table, punching the cat in the face to knock hi out and decasualising the ship over the edge, it was a one seat-er, she jumped with it, grabbing the outer hull and slipping inside, she turned on the controls and blasted to the west, the only thought on her mind to get away, the ship was easy to manuvere, a good thing considering she had never been good with ships or vehicles, she kept a steady line, going full speed  
  
Gohan looked up, had he heard something? He couldn't understand where she could have gotten to, he indicated to Tien, who pulled up, his face bearing the same expression as his own  
  
"Did you just hear something" Gohan asked, Tien nodded, they both strained their senses, a small drone, like engines came to their ears, it was too distant to tell where it came from but they knew some one who would pick it up, they nodded and blasted upwards  
  
Miko estimated it was five minutes travel before she found the turbojets, she was pressed back into her seat with the force, she grinned and pressed the eject button, the seat had a parachute so she was set, she shot into the air and free fell until the ground approached, she pulled the rip cord and her parachute jerked her upwards, she floated to the ground slowly, she smirked, realised she was about ten miles from Satan city, she sat down on the grassy area she had landed in and stretched her toes, they were sore and aching. The area was mainly meadows, most likely a farm she thought. A voice roused her from her thoughts  
  
"Hey, you ok?" she looked up to see a man on a tractor driving towards her, she smiled, knowing her way out, she got unsteadily to her feet  
  
"Oh thank god you found me!" she said, putting on her best hysterical female voice and fake stumbling under the weight of her parachute, he stopped the tractor and jumped down  
  
"Easy there miss" he said, catching her as she fell neatly into his arms, she secretly smirked as he carried her to his vehicle  
  
"We'd better get you back to the house" he said worriedly, she nodded fake groggily  
  
"Don't you close your eyes now, you might have a concussion" she secretly smirked, using what was left of her hangover to be all the more convincing  
  
Karin breathed a sigh of relief, he had just woken up, and she was gone, he sensed Piccolo approach, the green man braked at eye level  
  
"Where'd she go feline?" he demanded, Karin breathed another sigh of relief; Piccolo knew she had been here, he wouldn't have to explain his humiliation  
  
"She took a plane and headed west," he said, hearing grunts as his assistant rose back to consciousness  
  
"Is she gone?" he called from downstairs  
  
"Yes" Karin answered, wondering how she had managed to evade them and get down here without the ability to fly, her ki potential was rather high for a female; it was disconcerting. Yajirobe staggered up to meet him  
  
"What the hell happened?"  
  
"She beat the crap out of us, that's what, I wonder how she got down here without flying"  
  
"Maybe she climbed"  
  
"No, not even Goku could do it that fast, besides she doesn't have enough stamina to last that long, and they went up and down many times, it's a mystery" Yajirobe nodded  
  
"Still she was a babe, what'd you pick up from her mind?"  
  
"I was too scared to try, her head is full of anger though, maybe not all hers"  
  
Miko allowed herself to be led into a small farmhouse. The stout man pushed her into a chair  
  
"There you go honey, BETHA!!" he yelled, Miko winced, without the effect of painkillers on her head she was no longer faking, she had puked half up before so they must have worn off much quicker, a plump woman entered  
  
"What is it Abe?" she asked, then her eyes fell on Miko  
  
"Oh my! What happened?" she placed a hand on Miko's head, Abe shrugged  
  
"I saw her land with a parachute, she fell over and I called out, I reckon she's got a concussion or something, she was acting real groggy so I brought her back here. She nearly passed out a few times" he spoke with a strange accent Miko was only just noticing, she giggled, turning on the acting again, she guessed her hangover was getting it's revenge for her treasonous use of painkillers. The woman peered at her  
  
"What's your name sweetie?" she said kindly, sharing the same strange accent, as the man Miko guessed was her husband. Miko put on her best thinking face, screwing up her features in fake frustration  
  
"I-I don't know," she said wonderingly  
  
"Oh dear, maybe she's had more of a knock than we thought" the woman said, Miko prayed Sheme would be safe; she couldn't get to him just yet. Vegeta was at Capsule Corp, and she knew the spiky haired man was after her blood. Dende wasn't so unreadable she couldn't surmise that. The tall green man, Piccolo was another, she supposed, last hope for the earth or not with people who wanted her dead around she wanted to be as far away as possible. She would pray that Bulma would protect Sheme. The woman was talking  
  
"Do you remember anything honey?" she looked up dazedly, intensifying her confused expression  
  
"I-I remember...a man, he was really tall, he-he" she buried her head in her hands, what was left of her plait fell forward, revealing the bruises on her shoulders from where she had hit the rungs when she swung to avoid one of her pursuers, she heard a gasp, some one gently touched her shoulder, she secretly smirked and jerked away  
  
"She's in shock," the woman said softly  
  
"If the varmit every comes near her while I'm around he'll pay" she heard the man say, she looked up  
  
"I-I don't remember" she said softly, letting them see her wrists without actually appearing to be showing them, they were darkly bruised, she felt bad about playing these people for fools but she didn't have much of a choice, she turned on her tears, it was a remarkable skill, she had always been an excellent actress but she was outdoing herself now, the woman patted her arm  
  
"Don't worry dear, you're safe here, but I can't think how you got here, a plane maybe, there was a crash about twenty miles to the west of here" Miko smiled weakly  
  
"You need some rest dear" the woman gently helped her up  
  
"And a change of clothes" Miko looked down at her apparel, she had ripped splits in the jeans up to the knee so she move better and her top was all but gone, she blushed and pulled her hair down to cover the paper thin garment, the woman smiled  
  
"Come one I'll get you something to wear, do you want to take a bath" Miko nodded  
  
"We must think of something to call you now, any ideas"  
  
"I-I remember being called Shema once" she said weakly  
  
"That'll do fine" the woman said smiling  
  
Gohan was at a loss, no one had any idea where she was, Dende had lost sight of her, the area around the tower was empty, he couldn't think where she would go, Yajirobe's plane had flown straight into a mountain, but she hadn't been in it, he wondered where she had ejected, but they had followed the whole route and found nothing, it was uninhabited. Had she somehow used something like instant transmission? No she couldn't even use ki. He gave up, Piccolo was livid, a large bruise had appeared where she had gotten him, Gohan knew by now she was a lot stronger than she appeared, and faster two, he considered the possibility that she had climbed but how did she get to the tower itself if she went off the edge, it was something he would ask when they found her, he supposed she just got a fright when Piccolo grabbed her, he hadn't meant to scare her so badly, jus make her stay, but as she had said she didn't respond well to orders, he wondered if she would come back for her little brother, they could hope and keep searching at least.  
  
Piccolo meditated furiously, he couldn't believe she had evaded them like that, he hadn't moved for three hours, he was desperately trying to sense her ki, he was surprised it was so low considering her father, but he guessed she had never needed it before, he sense Gohan approach, every member was on the lookout, he wondered why they didn't use the kid as bait, but Bulma had said she wouldn't do that, that this wasn't a manhunt, they just had to find her, not catch her. He scowled  
  
"Piccolo?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Any luck"  
  
"No"  
  
"Darn, how's your stomach?"  
  
"Fine"  
  
"That bruise looked nasty"  
  
"She got a lucky shot"  
  
"She's pretty smart, I don't think any of us would have gotten away do easily"  
  
"She didn't have it easy, I guarantee, if you find her in the next three days she'll be covered in bruises" he heard a low whistle  
  
"Just how hard did you u hold her?"  
  
"Hard"  
  
Goku backed away from Chichi; his wife was livid  
  
"What do you mean it's important" he sighed and explained for the third time  
  
"NO"  
  
"But Chichi-"  
  
"I said no, that's the last I will hear of it!" Goku gave up, she wouldn't even let Gohan take a day off school to find Miko, he thanked Dende it was the weekend, they would just have to fins her before the week started again  
  
"Ok Chichi"  
  
Tien scanned the ground, he was taking his turn at finding Miko, he was worried, what had happened to her, he smiled at the thought of her hair, he pulled his train of thought up sharply, telling himself it was just fatigue. He saw a spec on the ground and swooped downwards  
  
Miko looked up, the sky was a dazzling blue today, she sighed and shoved the plough along, they had insisted she rest for another day but she felt do guilty for conning them that she had done all the farm work for them, they were ecstatic at her strength and Abe had offered her a position straight away, she had accepted, thinking she could leave when she felt it was safe, she turned the plough and finished her ten minute jog of the field, Betha was sitting on the porch when she returned  
  
"My dear you never cease to amaze me" she said happily  
  
"I'm glad to help you've done so much for me"  
  
"Twas no less than the golden rule demanded"  
  
"The golden rule?"  
  
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Miko nodded thoughtfully  
  
"I've heard that before, it sounds familiar" Betha smiled  
  
"Any luck remembering?"  
  
"No" Miko lied, she felt terrible about it but it was necessary, if they knew who she was it would put them in danger, she had a feeling that her twin would kill anyone who knew who she was  
  
Tien sighed; it had been a small child gathering flowers, she had screamed at the sight of him and run away, Tien jumped into the air wondering where Miko was right now  
  
Far away pale fingers raped against the hard marble armrest of a throne, Freiza's throne  
  
"Where are you sister," a sultry voice said to no one in particular, an amphibious guard scurried towards her  
  
"My queen"  
  
"Speak" the voice ordered icily  
  
"We are approximately two solar systems from earth"  
  
"Any results from the planetary scan"  
  
"We have determined that there are a small group of warriors defending the planet"  
  
"And my twin"  
  
"Nothing your majesty"  
  
"Then go and continue" the voice said annoyed  
  
"Yes your majesty" the amphibian bowed and scuttled away, the finger resumed there tapping  
  
"Sister you will join me, we will rule the universe as Freiza did, and seek revenge for the deaths of our father, hear me" the fingers took a small knife and drew it across a pale thigh  
  
Miko jumped, her thigh was suddenly sore, she grabbed her limb and screamed, it was bleeding, the almost blue blood soaking through the loose work jeans, she hear Abe come running  
  
"What is it?" she hurriedly hid the wound, not wanting him to see the colour of her blood  
  
"I-I just saw a snake, that's all" she lied. Abe smiled  
  
"They won't hurt you, they're harmless" Miko nodded  
  
"You're going to put the tractor out of business at the rate you're going at" he said happily  
  
"It's ok, I like to help"  
  
"Good on ya, I've done the far field, so this is the last one, you head back and take a break, I'll finish up here" normally Miko would have refused but the pain in her leg was getting worse, she nodded, forcing a smile using her acting skills to keep her voice steady  
  
"Thanks, I'm kinda' tired anyway" Abe nodded approvingly  
  
"So you should, the entire farm's runnin' more smoothly than ever" Miko nodded and limped away praying he wouldn't notice her limp, he didn't.  
  
Yamcha landed on the look out  
  
"Any luck Dende?" he asked  
  
"No, I don't know why but it's as if she's dead" Yamcha winced  
  
"King Kai would have alerted me if she was" Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief  
  
"I've done my watch, Goku should be heading out any minute, it's been three days, how much time do we have?"  
  
"Eight months"  
  
"I guess we'd better start training then"  
  
"No amount of training will prepare you for this, Miko is our only hope, her twin has powers over males and 18 is nowhere near strong enough to defeat her alone"  
  
"Wow"  
  
"Exactly, none of you would stand a chance without Miko, However much weaker she is than her sister the fighting style will be identical. I don't quite know how she is supposed to beat her sister, but the thing I do know is only she can"  
  
Authors Note: Ok so I promised action and I delivered, even if it wasn't fighting action, but now we begin to wonder, how can a woman capable of such a stunt be all she seems? Most likely fear and anger fuel a hidden power. After all, ki is linked directly to emotions, the super saijin transformation was through rage and grief and level two through being thoroughly pissed off.  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen 


	3. The hunt is onbut who’s hunting whom?

Chapter Three: The hunt is on-but who's hunting whom?  
  
Miko sat on the edge of the bath, wiping at the wound with a clean rag, the water was running in the bath already, she pulled off her shirt and slipped into the water, the last of the reddish blue blood rising off her skin as the water covered it, Betha knocked on the door  
  
"You alright dear?"  
  
"Yes" Miko called  
  
"I put out some clean clothes, I took in some of my things for you, you won't need Abe's belts to hols them up now" Miko smiled  
  
"Thank you" Betha laughed  
  
"You're a skinny thing aren't you" Miko laughed  
  
"Thanks Betha" she heard the woman walking away, she turned off the water and closed her eyes  
  
Goku landed outside a small farmhouse, a stout man came out to meet him  
  
"Hello stranger, what can I do for you?" Goku grinned at the strange accent all the people in these parts shared  
  
"I'm Goku, I'm looking for a girl about yay high," he indicated about his chin level  
  
"Darkish green hair, pale skin, thin, strong build" the man's face had changed  
  
"So you're the varmit, whadiyou want with Shema"  
  
"Shema, her name is Miko"  
  
"Get off my property"  
  
"But I just need to talk to her"  
  
"Get off my property!" the man produced a shot gun and pointed it at Goku  
  
"Did you not hear me?" he said threateningly  
  
"Can you just tell her it's Goku?" a stout woman appeared  
  
"Abe?"  
  
"Get Shema, tell her to take the car and go" the woman nodded and disappeared, Goku placed a hand on the gun and squeezed, it bent  
  
"Oops, hey listen I mean her no harm I just need to speak to her"  
  
Miko stepped onto the porch, Goku was standing in front of the house with Abe pointing a gun at him, the gun was bent, she cursed, thanking every god in existence her face was dirty and her hair was hidden under a large brimmed hat  
  
"What's going on pa?" she said copying his accent, he seemed to get the idea, she pretending to stare quizzically  
  
"What do you want?" she said convincingly  
  
"Get back in the house Bathen" Abe told her, Miko nodded and retreated, Goku placed his hands in the air  
  
Miko closed the door, she tore off the hat and ran to the bathroom, she rubbed her face cleaned and sprinted to the guest room, she slipped into the loosest clothes she could find, Betha entered as she was buttoning her shirt  
  
"Oh there you are, Abe said to take the car" Miko shook her head  
  
' I haven't been honest with you, I'm sorry the less you know the better, there are people who want me dead, he is with them, I have to go now he won't harm you if he thinks I'm not here" she half lied, Betha nodded, not flinching once  
  
"Here" she handed Miko a packet of hair die  
  
"It's blonde, shouldn't look too out of place with your skin" Miko hugged her quickly  
  
"Thank you" Betha indicated the door  
  
"It'll take a few minutes to die it, come on" Miko followed her, in the bathroom she took a pair of scissors and sheared her hair so it sat a few inches out from her head, Betha smiled and gathered up the long strands  
  
"I'll keep it to remember you by"  
  
"Ok" Miko sat on a bath stool as Betha poured the liquid over her head rubbing it in  
  
Tien landed next to Goku who was speaking to a stout ma wielding a gun, this was no problem, but Goku seemed to be trying to talk sense into the man  
  
"Get of my property, now!" Goku nodded  
  
"Alright, but tell her I came, I need to speak to her" the man nodded and Goku turned  
  
"Tien come on" Tien nodded they shot into the air, leaving a flabbergasted man on the ground below them  
  
Piccolo looked up as Goku and Tien landed  
  
"We found her, she's staying on a farm, we didn't see her but the farmer told his daughter to take her away, we didn't want to start a fight, so we left" Piccolo nodded, Tien spoke up  
  
"She'll be heading away soon, we stand a chance of finding her now  
  
Miko stared at her short blonde hair, it didn't look half bad, she rubbed her head dry and hugged Betha  
  
"Say thank you to Abe for me" she reached deep into a pocket and pulled out one of her three most prized possessions, a strange silver earring with a yellowy gold pearl hanging from it  
  
"Take this, it's worth a lot of money, to say thank you" she shot out the door before Betha could protest, she waved to Abe as she sprinted with eye blurring speed over the ground, all the farm work had increased her speed by leaps and bounds half an hour later the gleaming white of Satan city came into view, she sighed and slowed to a walk as she approached it, she entered the city at a leisurely pace, a few people stared at her, she guessed she looked strange with her roughly cropped hair and huge clothes, she smiled at a few, as falsely as she could, turning into the first mall she saw. Her first stop, the bank. She pushed open the doors, her life savings in her front pocket, she strolled down the streets until she found a clothing store, the sale woman glared at her as she entered, she pulled out a few large bills  
  
"Dress me, I want to look rich and completely different" she told the saleswoman, her eyes widened as the Miko slapped it into her hand  
  
"And quickly" Miko added, the woman jumped into action  
  
"Ok, business or casual?"  
  
As long as I am unrecognisable" the woman led her to a rack of brightly coloured clothes  
  
"What size are you?"  
  
"14 to 12"  
  
"And you're wearing that?"  
  
"I didn't have a choice, now hurry" the woman began pulling clothes off the rack, leading her all over the store, pulling every type of clothing under the sun out of the corners  
  
Twenty minutes later Miko stepped out of the store, dressed in tight black pants, a white tank top and a hip length sky blue vest, the saleswoman directed her to a personal stylist's and waved good bye as Miko lugged the single bag stuffed with clothes, she turned into the boutique and ordered the same, emerging with her hair in a stylish cut, streaks of blue to match her vest sprinkled over her head, next was a beauty parlour, she dragged another bag of hair products. She hated shopping but it was a necessity, the make up artist had a field day with her, and gave her the number of a well known photographer, telling she had serious potential, Miko grinned, she had found a place to stay, her face was thick with make up but it was better than being recognized, she had spent time on a sun bed as well to darken her pale skin, it had only just reach a golden colour, she headed for the optometrist's next, for green contacts.  
  
Tien scanned the ground, they were all out scanning the area, heading for Satan city, it would be a logical choice to head there, but it made finding her a lot harder, Goku indicated to land  
  
"She could be anywhere by now" Goku said as they landed in a small group, many of them nodded  
  
"Let's split up, take a partner and head in any direction, the city is huge but her hair will be easy to spot" Piccolo frowned  
  
"She will have dyed it if she's smart"  
  
"Would she have had time?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"How would you know namek" Vegeta cut in  
  
"I'm not stupid, think about it, if she made it to the city she could have gone anywhere" Piccolo growled, Vegeta sneered and jumped into the air, Goku followed him. Tien grinned as Gohan took off with Piccolo, Yamcha and Krillin took off with 18, she had come along for the fun of it she said, but he guessed she had come to keep an eye on Krillin, Tien felt sorry for Krillin, 18 was a real ice princess when she wanted. He nodded to Chou zu and they headed up wards and over the upbeat parts of the city.  
  
Miko knocked on the door, a short man in French style clothing opened the door. He looked her up and down, annoying her greatly  
  
"Yes" he asked with a heavy accent, she decided to make one of her own, putting on a sultry voice and expression  
  
"Hi" she purred, hating the degrading way with which she was acting  
  
"I am a friend of Rona's, she said to speak to you about modelling, she told me I had potential, really I have no idea of such things" she said taking a sensual pose, the man stepped back, making that strange square shape with both hands  
  
"Hmmm, yes" he stalled, she could see the cogs working in his head, and she barely knew what she looked like  
  
"Yes I think we could do something with you" he said, trying to hide the enthusiasm in his voice, Miko fought the urge to tell him to "cut the crap and sign me already" she settled for leaning forward just a little, smiling demurely at him, she mentally shivered, ignoring how degrading this was  
  
"Tell you what we'll do a trial run ok?" he said, she smiled provocatively and stepped inside. It was a large studio inside, the fluorescent lights giving a dull day light effect  
  
"This way please" he led her to a side room, inside was all manner of makeup and clothing, he strode over to the rack  
  
"I trust you know how to pose"  
  
"No, I've never done this before, but maybe you could instruct me" she let her hand rest on her hip limply, implying... the man grinned  
  
"Why not, SALLY!" Miko winced, she hated loud noises, but she would have to get used to them until she could find herself somewhere to stay  
  
"Listen, do you know, anywhere with apartments for rent, I just came to town" a tall blonde woman entered through another door hidden by curtain Miko had supposed covered a window  
  
"Oh a new recruit, my she has potential, who referred her?"  
  
"Rona" the man said absently, flicking through clothes, pulling out the occasional garment  
  
"By the way, I am Robert, and this is Sally and you are?" he asked as he turned to face her, Miko thought fast, she needed a new name, then she smiled  
  
"Nokia"  
  
"Well if Rona did her up then no wonder, but where did you get those clothes, Nokia?"  
  
"A local store, I came with pretty much nothing, family problems," she said quietly, lying through her teeth  
  
"Oh I see, well they're fine for street wear but we'll dress you here ok?"  
  
"Sure" Nokia lifted her head to smile dazzlingly, she hoped  
  
"Well we'll do a few test shots and see if there's any interest" Nokia nodded and found herself seated in a chair while Sally handed her a damp cloth  
  
"Wipe your face off and we'll se what we can do" Robert with drew from the room, Nokia complied and Sally attacked her, make up in hand  
  
Gohan swooped down to investigate a green head, it wasn't her, the young man nearly fainted at the sight if him, Gohan's identity was already out so he was unbothered about showing his face when he flew. Miko was nowhere in sight, he was really starting to regret not sticking closer to her, he may have been able to stop her, at least they knew she was alive, she must have had a plan from the start, little to nothing was known about her past, Krillin said he found her held against a wall, a knife to her throat, a man with his hands pulling at her shirt, another two holding her brother, she had been perfectly still, completely focused on her brother, not caring about what happened to her, Gohan guessed she could have dispatched them without a second thought and would have had her brother not been in danger, he and Tien had freed her brother, seeing this she had kicked the man in the groin, but he had struck her, Tien caught her as she fell unconscious, a small bruise on her cheek, it disappeared within a few minutes. He wondered how aware she actually was at the time, her speed said she could have ducked and grabbed both knives before they could have reacted, but then again anything could have happened before.  
  
Nokia allowed Robert to adjust her position, she had the expression perfect, her acting skills made it much easier, and she could take instructions and understand them. She shifted slightly  
  
"Perfect, now a little more seductive...perfect" Robert began circling her, snapping photographs ten to the dozen she saw Sally making the thumbs up out of the corner of her eye, she was squeezed into an altered and altogether more revealing version of ancient roman armour, she swung the short fake sword over he r shoulder, changing her position every few seconds while Robert called encouragement  
  
"Perfect!" he put down his camera, completely full, Nokia grinned and stepped down from the raised platform, she stretched her arms  
  
"You look perfect in the whole warrior style Nokia" Sally told her  
  
"You have just the right build, do you fight or something?"  
  
"No, but I used to do martial arts"  
  
"Which style"  
  
"Umm, it was a while back, I did tai chi, twe (authors note: sorry if I spelt that wrong) kwon do, karate, kung fu as well, and I kick boxed as well"  
  
"Cool, so what do you do now?"  
  
"Just basic training and weights and stuff just to stay toned"  
  
"Cool, keep it up" Robert was ecstatic  
  
"I have another model in a few minutes but well done, come back tomorrow at three, and we'll find you an agent"  
  
"Great" Nokia smiled just as she had been on the platform, she saw Robert shift a little, she smirked inwardly, things were going better than she thought, but she was still worried about Sheme, she just didn't know whether she could count on Bulma to keep him safe, half of them wanted her dead, so how could she be sure they wouldn't hurt him to get her back  
  
"Earth to Nokia" Sally called, she jumped  
  
"Sorry, I was thinking about where I'm going to stay tonight" Sally grinned  
  
"Tell you what I have a friend who's got a room to rent, she'll be glad to take if you agree to a few rules"  
  
"How can I contact her?" it was getting dark outside, she had been in here for three hours, the high windows letting in only dark now  
  
"I'll give you a ride if you want, I take it you don't have a car?"  
  
"Nope, I walked like six blocks to get here, in heels" Nokia winced fully enjoying her fakery, she had found it easy  
  
"You poor thing, I'm not leaving until eight but you're welcome to stay and wait"  
  
"Great, I'll go get changed" Nokia indicated her apparel  
  
"Yeah well, no one's gonna mess with you in that, now are they" Sally joked. She was quite pretty really, though her frame was a little heavily boned. Nokia note. Nokia too was not fine boned but her fitness and face made up for this.  
  
"Cool, hey do you want some food, I'll order in" she offered, pulling her new phone out of one of the three bags she had lugged to the studio  
  
"Sure, why not"  
  
"How's Chinese sound?"  
  
"Great" Nokia liked Sally, she was so friendly and never gave you the look that said she thought she was better than you, Nokia felt she could find a place here, however degrading the work was, she took her phone and dialled as she headed for the second changing room, knowing the next model would be in the first  
  
"Yeah hi, I need the number of a good Chinese restaurant, thanks" she slipped inside and slipped out of the fake armour, pulling on the black pants and the white top and a sweatshirt of golden colouring, she wrinkled her nose, but it was warm, she washed her face and reapplied the make up she had on before and strolled back out to wait.  
  
Goku landed outside his house, another fruitless day, he waved to Tien and followed Gohan inside  
  
"Gohan, you better get onto your homework or your mother will kill the both of us with her bare hands" Gohan nodded and disappeared upstairs, Dende had had no luck finding her, they had spent three weeks finding her last time, Bulma said Sheme was doing fine, he supposed she was afraid of Vegeta and Piccolo or something like that Dende said even if they trained non-stop they wouldn't stand a chance against this queen, she had control of all Freiza's resources. Not a good thing, they had almost a year but it wasn't exactly comforting. He sighed and opened the refrigerator; it was stocked high as usual, full of his favourite foods. He pulled out an armload for a snack and set it down on the table, devouring the many eatables within minutes, Chichi came in dressed in a nightgown with a robe over the top  
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"Looking for Miko," he told her  
  
"I wonder where she's gotten to, so irresponsible to leave Sheme like that"  
  
"I don't think she felt she had a choice, she jumped off the lookout Chichi, I don't know how she got down but she did, and to be that desperate I'd say she's afraid for his safety if she goes near him" Chichi nodded and yawned  
  
"Gohan studying?"  
  
"Yup, as soon as we got home"  
  
"Don't stay out so late, or you'll get no food at all"  
  
"Ok Chichi" he curled his arm around her waist and walked from the room with her, leaving the empty containers that only minutes ago had been full t bursting with food  
  
Chou zu opened his eyes groggily, some one had thrown a pillow at him, Tien was talking quietly with Master Roshi and Yamcha was standing over him  
  
"Finally, come on it's morning" Chou zu groaned, this was getting impossible, he felt sure if Miko was thinking about the earth and even her own safety she would have made an effort to find them, he supposed she was absolutely terrified of Piccolo though, he wasn't surprised, Dende said she was most likely still in shock, after all discovering you weren't human and then finding you were the only hope for the earth would tend to pull you out of your comfort zone, he had tried to locate her by using telepathy and he had determined she was indeed in Satan city, but there were too many other minds around and her tiny ki made it impossible to locate her any further than that  
  
As the small ship crawled it's way through the second solar system from earth pale fingers twisted dark emerald hair into a high bun, pinning it with a shining clip of something like gold. A tall woman with purple skin and red hair of slender proportions entered, dropping to one knee  
  
"Your majesty"  
  
"What have they discovered?"  
  
"The planets gave way easily, we have just received word from the soldiers you so wisely left behind, the fighters on earth are indeed the ones who killed Freiza and Zarbon, the others with are waiting to oppose you"  
  
"And my twin"  
  
"It has been surmised that she is indeed on the planet, but as to her exact location they are unsure"  
  
"Is her fighting power satisfactory"  
  
"She has displayed great potential at times, but as to what she can really do they as completely in the dark, she has little to no ki at her disposal, I believe she has been trained in earth's fighting styles but nothing else, though they have discovered her to be highly ingenuitive, and extremely fast for one who cannot harness ki"  
  
"Good, how long now"  
  
"Just over seven months your majesty"  
  
"Good, can you not increase speed?"  
  
"Not without lowering the scanners and if you wish to find her quickly...then no, they will also be aware of our approach if we increase speed"  
  
"They already are, but very well, maintain speed"  
  
"Yes your majesty"  
  
"You may go, and Karva"  
  
"Yes your majesty"  
  
"Well done"  
  
"Thank you your majesty" the woman left the room. From the throne, still shrouded in darkness a sultry feminine laugh could be heard  
  
"Oh sister, you know I am near" the pale finger touched the invisible scar on the vaguely visible thigh  
  
"We will be together again soon, how I miss you" the laugh again and then thoughtful silence  
  
Nokia grinned as she and Sally made their way down a corridor, a door at the end flew open, Robert danced out  
  
"You have an agent Nokia! And we have signed you for three weeks, I found a gallery that wants your image!" he clapped his hands, Nokia grinned wider, Sally patted her back  
  
"Well done, if a magazine sights you then you're set, but try and remember us little people, we work privately, most bigger companies have their own photographers"  
  
"Cool, when do we start?" Robert grinned  
  
"My schedule is rather full at the moment so we'll be working every other day, for the next three weeks, it should be great, I was thinking some shots at a beach and outside and things like that"  
  
"Sounds fine to me, so long as the clothes don't show more skin than I'd like"  
  
"They won't, it's winter remember"  
  
"Oh yeah" Sally laughed  
  
"Come on, you deserve a coffee"  
  
"Coffee?"  
  
"Geez, you must be a long way from town"  
  
"I am, trust me, I am"  
  
Dende smiled, he had spotted her at last. He sent a message to King Kai  
  
  
  
"King Kai?"  
  
"Dende?"  
  
"Yes it's me, I've found her"  
  
"Great!! Well what are we waiting for? Get the Z fighters! Get the National Guard! We have to get to her before anything else does"  
  
"Hold on, hold on. Listen, I need you to send a message to Goku, tell him to come up, and not to bring too many of the others"  
  
"Great ok, let me just find him, ah! Hang on, I'll just patch you through"  
  
"Thanks"  
  
"Hey King Kai? Is that you?"  
  
"Yup, listen Dende has some news"  
  
"Ok, put him on the line"  
  
"Hey Goku, listen I found her, can you come up"  
  
"Not right away, how about in twenty minutes, Chichi has lunch ready, she'd be really mad if I just disappeared after all the trouble she went to"  
  
"Ok, I don't think I'll lose her now that I can see her"  
  
"Hey why don't you send Piccolo or some one else?" Goku suggested innocently  
  
"I don't think she'd be too pleased with Piccolo's methods, she's already lost faith in us, she hasn't had much of a life, so I doubt she's very good at trusting people, especially one's who've already treated her the way he did, come up when you can, bring a few of the others if you want but not to many, we wouldn't want her to think we're hunting her or anything"  
  
"Ok, see you in half an hour" the connection went dead  
  
"Thank you King Kai"  
  
"Don't mention it" Dende smiled with relief, next time he would have to be more careful with what he said next time, she was extremely perceptive, but he supposed the life she had lived gave her a sense of people. He sighed, collecting his thoughts, Piccolo was down on earth, he was grateful, he could guess how Piccolo would handle this, but scaring her out of her wits would not help the situation, nor make her more willing to help them, he checked on Sheme, Bulma had found out his school and made sure he got there, he was in a class below Trunks, and rather bright, she had sacrificed everything to make sure he got a good life, Dende sighed, she could have given him up to others but he had asked to stay with her so she gave up own life for her little brother. He knew she would be worried about him but trusted Bulma enough to leave him with her, he still marvelled at her method of getting away though, she had one well indeed at disguising herself, blonde hair and a tan, with thick makeup to change her features, he grinned, modelling, thinking of her reaction to work she would consider so degrading, but he had surmised she had an acute survival instinct.  
  
Nokia grinned into the strong cappuccino, it tasted good; she had never lived the high life before  
  
"Good?" Sally asked over her own cup of brown liquid  
  
"Yeah" Nokia breathed in the steam  
  
"Great" she corrected  
  
"Now I must introduce you to some friends and find you a man" Sally grinned, Nokia almost winced  
  
"Why not" she said after the tiniest of pauses, it had been three days since they had started the outdoor shots and a week into the actual shoot, she took another sip and felt the warmth run down her throat  
  
"I got invited to a party by one of Robert's business friends, she said it was for models and people in the "business", I need help finding clothes, for god's sake, I still don't know how to dress" Sally grinned  
  
"That makes it all the more fun to dress you up" Nokia grinned ruefully  
  
"Great, now I'm your personal Barbie doll"  
  
"You know it girl" Nokia like Sally, she was like her old friends before a triclops and a bald man swooped in and destroyed her whole world  
  
"Come one, after lunch I'll show you round the shops, you've got to make the most of your days off" Nokia shrugged  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Dende searched frantically, he had lost her again, he frowned in frustration, some outside force was blocking his search, slowing him down, he suspected it was this mystery queen, he sighed and took a break, feeling a growing sense of desperation, they had been looking for two weeks now, Goku appeared behind him, he turned  
  
"I lost her, darn! Something's blocking me, it's not her. I'd say our queen herself is looking too" Goku nodded  
  
"Well I'll wait, tell me if you pick her up again ok?" Dende nodded and went back to watching the earth  
  
Tien shuffled restlessly, he didn't like the idea of Miko being missing, it was just now starting to get to him, anything could have happened to her, his thoughts drifted back to the way he had found her  
  
  
  
Tien yelled to Krillin  
  
"THERE!" he pointed to five specs in the empty street, Krillin nodded and swooped downwards with him, they pulled up and hid behind a building, not wanting to scare her. Tien's eyes widened then narrowed, she was pressed up against a wall a man had a knife at her throat, his other hand ripping at the stubborn material of her shirt, the button came free as he grinned, she was watching a pair of men who were holding a small boy, one also wielding a knife, had it pressed against his throat, she was cursing softly, fear in her golden eyes, she was wearing what was left of a loose long sleeve shirt of movey colouring, and dark camouflage combat pants, underneath the looser top she wore a similar singlet, her chocolate coloured boots bore high heels, Tien nodded to Krillin and they waited for an opening, there was a thin line of blue blood travelling down her neck, she winced but kept her eyes on the boy, scowling every time the grinning man pulled at another button  
  
"What's the matter sweetie, you know we won't hurt you if you cooperate, come on we didn't dope you up that much" Tien saw her eyes glaze over, he shook her roughly as she started to go limp against the knife  
  
"Come on sweetie don't toy with me" he growled, Tien charged, he and Krillin grabbing each of the men holding onto the boy, Tien whirled to deck the man holding her but he was already double over, she was sliding down the wall a bruise appearing on her cheekbone, her eyes glazed over, he jumped forward and caught her, the boy too was out for the count, he shook her. No response, she was breathing. He took off after Krillin, arranging her in his arms as he went. Ten minutes later the bruise had all but faded, she opened her eyes groggily, he smiled at her  
  
"Hi, don't panic, you're safe" she stared at him groggily for a second and then her eyes widened, she half sat up, her fingers clawing at him wildly, she was struggling like anything, he was afraid he'd hurt her if he held on too hard, she was squirming crazily, he slung her over his shoulder, this did not have the desired result, she screamed and cursed, realising she was in the air, he was amazed at her vocabulary, recognising her creative choice of words only as filthy, she suddenly pulled from his grasp and plummeted downwards, screaming all the way. He swooped after her, she seemed even angrier after he saved he life for the second time, cursing louder and clawing at his face and neck like a wild animal, he dropped her twice before landing and dropping her again, succeeding in making her hysterical. He sighed as she screamed at him; he just couldn't win  
  
Nokia grinned at the camera, the sea was cold against her skin but it didn't bother her as she leapt through the waves, fake laughing and splashing two other models, she was shivering by the time Robert signalled the end  
  
"Great job ladies" he told them as they jumped out of the water breathless  
  
"Nokia, try to move a little slower next, when I said run I didn't mean too fast for the camera" Nokia grinned sheepishly  
  
"Sorry, I'm used to running a whole lot faster than that" Robert grinned  
  
"Well blurred isn't half bad anyway, the gallery got back to me, they want more of you guys" Sona and Malan grinned and turned to Nokia  
  
"Hey, you wanna come for dinner, we're going out to a good restaurant" Nokia nodded, glad to now have at least have half a social life  
  
"Great, but I think we'd better get changed first, I don't think swimsuits count as tidy"  
  
"Great, see you in ten then" they turned to leave, Nokia looked out at the sky, the sea crashed on the sandy beach, she smiled and licked her lips, tasting the salty spray. She wrapped a towel that an assistant handed her around her waist, leaving her top half exposed to the open air, the thin bikini top showing a little more skin that she would have liked but the money was good, she squinted at the sky, sure she had seen a spec approaching, she turned to follow the others but heard a thud behind her, she whirled to face Tien, the towel falling away  
  
Authors Note: So this was a little cliché, but you gotta love the irony. Anyways, I am running out of ideas as to how she spends the next eight months. Running or fighting them or does she just give in or does she cut a deal or simply kill herself?) For this I need your help, have fun.  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen  
  
By the way :D  
  
Me likes reviews ye knows. :D. De more reviews me gets de more me be writing bout dish leeetel green haired girly heer. Me gotsa some idea for some sidesa storwies and me wants to know if I should bofver. Hee hee. I need to learn how to spell.  
  
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	4. Word of honourPromises and bruises

Chapter four: Word of honour-Promises and bruises  
  
Tien gaped; the was dressed in the skimpiest swimsuit he had ever seen, not that he had seen many, he smiled and offered his hand  
  
"Long time no see, nobody means you any harm, we'll make sure of it" he said, jumping straight into the task of reassuring her, she scowled and her foot sent a shooting pain through his shin, he sank to his knees to find her tanned knee in his face, he heard soft foot steps as she ran back up the beach, he staggered to his feet and followed her, she disappeared inside a tent, he decided to wait, maybe she was just getting changed, no such luck, she sprinted past him in a sarong and loose shirt, he sighed and lifted into the air, she wasn't going to make this easy, he glided up to pass her, she shrieked some new curse at him and skidded to a halt as he landed in front of her, he could see men in security uniforms approaching  
  
"Come on, you know no one's going to hurt you"  
  
"Then how do you explain the bruises on my wrists" she spat, he took a step back, the men were getting closer  
  
"Hey you!" one of them yelled, Tien sighed, trying to think of something to reassure her  
  
"If we wanted to hurt you, would Krillin and I have helped you in the alley?" she started  
  
"If I'm you're only hope then of course you'd grab me no matter where I was" she said, backing away, her fists raised, the men in blue were a hundred yards away  
  
"Come on, I promise nothing bad will happen, we need to protect you from your twin. If she finds you we're all doomed" she seemed to be considering, the security guards were yards away from her, Tien tried once more  
  
"I promise, I will personally protect you, Piccolo won't do it again, he didn't realise he hurt you"  
  
"I don't care, do you have any idea what I went through to get away from you, I nearly broke my shoulder" Tien's eyes widened  
  
"How?" her answer never came, a guard ran up and stepped in front of her  
  
"You ok Nokia?" he asked while three men tackled Tien, he didn't respond, knowing he would kill them by accident if he retaliated, she was watching him through narrowed green eyes, he thought for a second, green eyes? The men pulled him to his feet  
  
"Come on buddy, no touching the models" one told him, they roughly pulled him back up the beach, he was surprised at how far she had gotten, she was fast, dam she was fast.  
  
Nokia considered, Bob took her arm  
  
"You look like you need a drink" she nodded, stress making her movements slow  
  
"What'd he try?" bob asked tentatively as he led her back towards the collection of small tents, she wondered why Tien didn't just shake them off. His third eye was watching her, she looked away  
  
"Nothing, he just wanted to speak to me," she said shakily, putting on as best she could, she was scared, but not for the reasons she would have them believe, Bob patted her shoulder  
  
"Wait" the guards stopped  
  
"She shook away from bob and strode up to them, looking Tien in his three eyes  
  
"You promise?" she asked, unsure why she was doing this, he nodded  
  
"You have my word of honour" he said formally, she took a deep breath, suddenly Vegeta landed next to her, she whirled around  
  
"Gotcha" he said triumphantly, grabbing her arm, Tien jumped forward, smashing his fist into the short man's face, this had little effect except to make him let her go, she jumped away, Tien was standing in front of her, his arms spread wide  
  
"Leave it Vegeta, she's agreed to come back" he said warningly, Nokia shut her mouth, holding back the indignant reply that was on the tip of her tongue, the short man growled and shot into the air, Nokia felt her knees go weak with relief, she looked at her arm, there was a huge hand shaped bruise forming already, the security guards were getting to their feet, she turned to them  
  
"It's ok guys, he's with me" she told them, Tien turned to her  
  
"Ok" she told him  
  
"But let me get properly dressed" he nodded and escorted her back to the tents, the guards walking close behind, she nodded to Bob who grinned and led the others away  
  
"Thanks" she told Tien, letting him take her arm  
  
"I'll let the other know I found you, ok?" he said, she nodded and stepped back into the tent, changing her clothes is quickly into something much warmer. When she came out Tien was standing just before the water, glowing amber, she stared. Sona and Mika came up behind her  
  
"Change of plans guys, tell Robert I won't be back for a few days ok?" she told them apologetically. Sona winked  
  
"We understand" Nokia just shrugged, denying what they were thinking would be pointless  
  
"See you guys" she waved her hand and pulled her sweatshirt closer about herself, she shrugged to herself, her face would have been all over the city in a few days anyway, it was inevitable, Tien turned, the glow fading  
  
"Hey, you ready to go?" she nodded  
  
"Fly slow" she ordered  
  
"The others will turn up in minute or so" she nodded as he rose into the air, she let him place both arms around her waist, holding her beneath him  
  
"Ready?" she closed her eyes  
  
"Go" she said, the air pressure triple as they shot forwards  
  
Gohan felt Tien approach, there was a small ki with him, he whooped triumphantly  
  
"He's got her guys!" he yelled to the others, his father looked up and grinned, Krillin and Yamcha whooped with him  
  
"Who would have thought, Tien, the one she cut up would get her" Yamcha said grinning, the dot that was Tien grew in size as he neared them.  
  
Miko spread her arms out, straightening her body, she heard a chuckle, she grinned, keeping her eyes shut tight, suddenly she was jerked to a stop, she scowled as she nearly slid right out of Tien's grip, he caught her by the hips, her eyes snapped open to see Yamcha below her  
  
"Long time no see" he called upwards, she looked around, Gohan, Goku and Krillin were all grinning from ear to ear, she fought the annoyed blush and settled for a threat, they were all a lot les brave when it came to taking on an angry woman, this gave her an advantage  
  
"If any of you say one word, I will execute each one of you myself" she told them definitely, they all nodded still grinning, how she longed to hit them, she was still seriously annoyed with each of them  
  
"First stop, Capsule Corp" she heard Tien say, his arms tightened around her again, her dyed hair whipped into her face as they jolted into motion, she shut her eyes, the sea far below, she tapped Tien on the shoulder, he looked down  
  
"You ok?" he asked, his third eye watching where he was going  
  
"Go down!" she yelled over the wind, he nodded and they descended, she grinned and dropped her hands to let her fingers brush the glassy surface of the blue water, salt flying onto her skin. She laughed at the unusual sensation, looking up she noticed Tien smiling at her, she blushed and suddenly drove her hands into the water, creating a kid of barrier, sending a bucket full of water into his face, he yelped protestingly as more covered his face, half falling on her, he turned upwards her feet touched the water for a second before it disappeared below her, she scowled at the sopping triclops carrying her  
  
"You prefer flying like this" he stated, she nodded  
  
"Just don't drop me," she said warningly  
  
Tien nodded and grinned, she was incredibly light, and in her current clothes she looked even better than she had the day at the lookout, he stopped his train of thought, wondering where it came from, he felt her move slightly  
  
"Can you not hold so tight, your crushing my ribs" she choked, Tien cursed himself and loosened his grip enough to keep hold of her. She nodded gratefully, spreading her hands again, he grinned and increased his speed, he felt her place her small hands over his own wrapped around her, he noticed one of his arms could make it all the way around her waist with room to spare, in the past even at the lookout her clothes and stance had hidden just how small her waist actually was, he had seen her in that bathing suit though, she was incredible slender, and rather delicate looking, she appeared to grow more attractive every time he saw her, but then again she wore more tasteful clothing each time her saw her. He pulled up his train of thought again, telling himself he just needed sleep; he hadn't slept in three days. He landed outside Capsule Corp, setting her on her feet. She stood for a second then entered the house the house at a hurried walk  
  
Miko called through the door  
  
"Bulma" she heard a distant reply and Bulma came running  
  
"Miko!" She said, crushing her in a hug, squeezing her already aching ribs  
  
"Where've you been?" she said, worry in her eyes  
  
"Goku told me what happened are you ok?" she asked, inspecting Miko's wrist carefully, the bruising was all gone, it became invisible within half an hour if it wasn't serious, the ones on her wrists were, they had faded in a matter of days though  
  
"Don't worry, I was just a bit shaken up, how is Sheme?" said urgently  
  
"I wanted to come back to get him but I was afraid of what would happen to him, they want me dead Bulma, I was scared they'd use him as bait, if anyone knew I was close by I was scared they'd hurt him to get me back" Bulma gasped  
  
"Who?" "Vegeta, Piccolo, I don't know who else but a few of them, something about if they kill me my twin can't reach full power, I wasn't listening to the green brat, I was too busy keeping an eyes on the bigger one. But geezuz, he's strong, but he's not invincible, he'll be still feeling the effects of my fist" she smirked  
  
"Ignorant idiot, he was waiting for me to run, not for me to hit him, unfortunately I could only reach his gut"  
  
"Don't tell me they dragged you back here?" she asked worriedly  
  
"No, Tien gave me his word nothing else would happen, I believed him, but I keep more than one weapon on me just in case, I can handle the average man, not a seven foot giant, still Tien promised, you should've seen his face when Vegeta grabbed my arm" she rolled up her sleeve to show the diminishing bruise, Bulma gaped  
  
"I'll speak to him," she said through gritted teeth  
  
"For some reason I trust Tien"  
  
"Yeah he's a big softie at heart, Sheme is fine, I told him you went on vacation and you said he could stay here, that's ok isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, it's perfect. Man I haven't lived this well for a long time"  
  
"So what did you do with yourself? Sheme's doing homework right now, I found out where he was enrolled"  
  
"Great" Bulma led her into the house. Miko heard footsteps and Tien tapped her on the shoulder  
  
"I'll stick around if you want, if Bulma doesn't have room for me then I'll take you to Master Roshi's ok?" she nodded and turned to Bulma  
  
"Sure I have room Tien, looks like you found yourself a bodyguard Miko" Bulma said grinning Miko nodded  
  
"Something like that" Bulma led them through the now familiar corridors, Miko heard the others talking behind them, their words only just within earshot  
  
"She didn't beat you up Tien?"  
  
"Not really, she kicked me in the shin and kneed me in the head but nothing after that"  
  
"At least she didn't kick any higher" there were murmurs of agreement. She heard a few chuckles as well  
  
"How'd you convince her to come, she didn't exactly look scared when we met up"  
  
"I promised her nothing else would happen, and then Vegeta turned up and grabbed, her got him by surprise, I guess that convinced her"  
  
"You took on Vegeta!"  
  
"He wasn't powered up or anything, and he wasn't hurt, but it was enough to get her to let her go, I promised I'd make sure nothing happened, and then he turns up, I'd say he left a beaut' of a bruise on her arm though, her face, she was totally freaked, though I would be to if Vegeta got a grip like that on me" there was a low whistle and Miko didn't catch the answer as they entered the living room  
  
"No drinking this time ok?" Bulma said half jokingly  
  
"By the way nice hair" she pointed to Miko's shorn locks  
  
"You'd be surprised the trouble I went to not to be found"  
  
"Yeah, even Dende couldn't find you, he thought your twin might have been blocking him or something"  
  
"Oh ok, hey listen I don't really feel all that happy about staying so close to Vegeta he was one of the ones keen to kill me so."  
  
"He wouldn't actually but I can understand, tell you what, get Tien to take you to Master Roshi's, have you gotten used to flying by now"  
  
"I guess, it's not too bad as long as they don't drop you, still I guess I bring it on myself he way I hang on, I swear the look on Gohan's face when Goku asked him was priceless, It's amusing when you look back on it but a the time it was downright irritating" Bulma grinned  
  
"Gohan still has those marks, hungry?"  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"Vegeta won't be back for a while yet"  
  
"Cool" she heard Tien step up behind her  
  
"Tien, I think I'd rather stay at Master Roshi's or somewhere else"  
  
"Ok, I'll take you whenever you're ready, it's getting close to dark so it'd be better to go soon, I can't see in the dark"  
  
"Sure I'll just get something to eat"  
  
"I'll be outside" she smiled at Tien, he was beginning to give her a warm fuzzy feeling whenever he was close, she scowled to herself, telling her brain that it was just that she felt safe, without the risk of having her neck snapped every second of the day. Bulma reappeared with a plate of food, Miko took it  
  
"Thanks"  
  
"No problem" Miko swallowed a piece of hot steak  
  
"This is good food," she said appreciatively, setting the plate on the coffee table and sitting down opposite Bulma  
  
"So what have you been up to lately?"  
  
"First I bought clothes, got my hair and face down, then the hairdresser told me to go to this place about modelling, so I thought at least I could find a way of getting some cash, and he took me straight away, they did some trial shots and I found an agent and got a three week contract, I was halfway through when Tien turned up, but a woman who I work with sowed me around town and introduced me to a little something called a social life, I intend to keep going, but I'll work with you guys now as well, on certain conditions" she took a last bite of a bread roll  
  
"Do you encapsulise these?" she indicated the half full plate, Bulma nodded  
  
"You've been busy then" Miko nodded  
  
"Very" she swallowed the last of the bread roll and put down her plate  
  
"Thanks, I guess I'll be going now, listen, can Sheme stay with you? I want to keep going with my job, however degrading it is it makes good money, here though he has a friend, I could never afford a decent place before, we lived in a hole, he seems to like it here" Bulma nodded  
  
"Sure he can stay, I'll tell him you'll come to see him soon"  
  
"Great, I'm working every other day so I'll come and see him on my way to work and take him out in the afternoons, the hours are really good you know" Bulma grinned  
  
"Come on, I'll see you off"  
  
"Don't worry about it, you'll only see me either screaming or swearing and you know how much you hate that" she waved her hands and disappeared down the hall that led to the outside  
  
Tien stepped outside to see Goku and Gohan take off, Yamcha and Krillin were waving them goodbye. Krillin turned at his approach  
  
"So what's the deal? We going or what?"  
  
"She said she's coming once she gets something to eat"  
  
"So she's going to Master Roshi's place with you guys then" Yamcha was grinning stupidly as Tien nodded  
  
"Leave her along Yamcha" Krillin warned  
  
"There are other girls, it's bad enough she'll have to deal with Master Roshi" Yamcha grinned  
  
"I wasn't thinking about it, honest" even in the near dark there was a deep blush on his cheeks, Krillin smirked  
  
"Sure you weren't"  
  
Miko wandered outside at a leisurely pace, her stomach pleasantly full. Sheme was going to stay at Capsule Corp, she was glad he had found a friend in Trunks and another in Goten. Bulma said that Vegeta was all talk and would never actually attack her, not with Goku around anyway. This was not very comforting; she made a mental note to keep her knuckle-dusters handy. She hadn't needed them for a long time. She tightened the straps on her sandals. Tien turned as she walked up behind him  
  
"Ready?"  
  
"I have to stop at my apartment to pick up some clothes" he nodded  
  
"Ok, we'll meet you there if you guys want to go ahead" he said to Krillin and Yamcha, they nodded, disappearing in the rapidly falling darkness. Tien awkwardly lifted her off her feet, she sighed annoyedly; she hated being carried. She nodded and took a deep breath while she could. They shot forward  
  
Tien did his best to hold on without crushing her in his fingers or insulting her, he was not succeeding, he let her down as quickly as he could, she unlocked the door and led him inside, a woman in a dressing gown came out of a side room  
  
"Oh you're home Nokia" she said  
  
"Hey, listen Linda, I'm staying with some friends so I may not be back, thank you so much for taking me in on such short notice, I'll send the board up to the end of the month" the woman nodded  
  
"So this is the mystery man who swept you off your feet" she said with a gossip starved air, Tien thanked Dende Miko had placed the baseball cap she seemed to favour on his head to cover his third eye  
  
"You go girl, but geez he's huge" Tien was getting uncomfortable, he guessed now he knew how Miko felt all the time, the woman smirked and withdrew  
  
"Hey, you'll still come and visit, things'll be pretty quiet without you girl" Miko called from the room she disappeared into. Tien stood awkwardly in the doorway  
  
"Yeah why not, I'm still doing the contract, and my face, or more my ass is going to be in god knows how many magazines in two weeks, I'll just get Mr muscle man here to fly me into the city, can you believe the kind of shots they were asking for, like hell I'm gonna wear what they gave me, I couldn't figure out which way I was meant to put it on. Robert said it's ok if I don't wanna wear something like that, but that other magazine, you know the one who offered Malan and me that other three day shoot, that one, they can't seem to take a hint"  
  
"Good on ya, you're not a sell-out like some models I've seen. Cool, yeah they said he can fly, I heard he chased you down the beach"  
  
"Minor incident, new Capsule Corp technology, it was a test to see if it could keep up with some one running, and apparently I'm the fastest runner around" Miko's voice was muffled as she rolled the lies off her tongue, Tien raised an eyebrow, she was good at this. The woman finally addressed him, extending her hand  
  
"Linda. You're awfully quiet, I bet you're sorry already, Nokia isn't your average model, she considers being gawked at degrading, yet she's the hottest thing on the catwalks, or so the critics say" Tien managed a weak smile, as he shook her hand carefully, Miko was pretty strong so he could be less careful with her but this was just another ordinary woman, which meant he could break her fingers without realising it  
  
"Well...you see.....we're not...together....we're just...friends...kind of" Linda winked at him  
  
"Sure you aren't, not many guys can keep their hands off her, she decked some guy right outside the door once, then dragged him three floors down and chucked him into the street" Tien grinned  
  
"That sounds like her, none of the others had any idea she could fight as well as she could, we didn't find out till she crippled one of the best fighters on the planet"  
  
"You mean Hercule? Hell, not even she could beat him" Tien grinned  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that" Miko staggered out, her hair half down, giving an interesting effect in the semi dark and her mouth was full of hair pins and clips. She opened the small bag she was dragging and dropped them in. Her cheeks were flushed  
  
"I hope you aren't scaring him Linda, he's awfully shy" Linda grinned  
  
"Worried I'll tell him horror stories about what you've done to guys who've annoyed you? Like that time at the cafe, this guy ran into her and she thought he was trying t-"  
  
"Ok! I'mreadylet'sgo" Miko cut in, her voice slighter higher, Linda grinned  
  
"Another time" she grinned wider as Miko shoved the bag at Tien and pushed him backwards out the door  
  
"See you in a few days Nokia!" Linda called. Miko turned and hugged her quickly, shutting the door behind her. Tien shouldered the bag.  
  
"Nokia?"  
  
"New name" she told him shortly, he noticed a tiny tint of green regrowth poking out from her now loose hair, she placed her arms around his neck and tightened her grip, he lifted off and shot out of the fire escape, speeding through the dark night, Miko buried her head in his chest, he was wearing a tropical shirt Master Roshi had found, they seemed to think turning up shirtless would freak her even more. He pushed down the tiny chill that ran through him as he carried her feather-light weight, she seemed to get thinner every time he saw her as well. She leaned out a little to watch the outer city limits flash by under them. She yelped as he dodged a low hanging cloud, knowing they made it impossible to see where you were going. She yelped again and clung tighter to him. He shot through the sky, as she rested her head under his chin.  
  
He shifted his head to rest on her silken hair. She was probably as pretty as Bulma, he thought to himself, though he had little idea what classified a woman or girl as pretty, some one had told him once that Bulma was extremely pretty, he had taken their word for it, but in many ways she was like Bulma when she chose to show it she had a small slender waist, smooth not overly narrow hips, unblemished skin and beautiful defined features, he supposed that came from her father, apparently Zarbon was one hell of a pretty boy, she must have had a hard time trying to cover her looks, they were unmissable. He abruptly pulled up his thoughts; this was the third time it had happened, what was going on in his head? He mentally shook himself as the inky black of the ocean came into view. He felt Miko relax, he glanced down, she was asleep, he slowed down, it would take twice the time now if he didn't want to wake her, and waking her would result in either dropping her or a repetition of his earlier injuries. he settled for going slow. He glided close to the water, understanding how she had laughed so happily as he flew her low enough to drag her fingers through the glassy surface.  
  
Yamcha trained in the twilight, he felt Tien approach. He went a little faster, it had been a long time since he had worn the familiar orange gi, but if there was any chance he could defend himself he would take it. He heard Tien land with a double thud. A loud protest from Miko as to the rough landing ensued. He grinned and turned around to see her sitting on the sand looking indignant, his grin grew. Tien was standing above her apologising  
  
"Hey you were asleep I didn't know you would jump like that, at least I didn't drop you in the ocean" he said. This seemed to appease her. She got up and dusted off her rear, then shouldered a small duffel bag, after a thoughtful second she shoved it at Tien. Yamcha grinned even wider  
  
"Welcome to our humble training place, I would suggest you tone down the dress while master Roshi is around though" she shrugged, not understanding his words. He sighed, she would find out soon enough  
  
Miko followed Yamcha into the house; it was a little two storey one. She took her bag and dumped it by one of the sleeping mats on the floor of the spacious lounge as she looked about her, there was a flight of steps leading up to the second to her right and a television set sat in front of the bay window now covered by curtains, there were two steps leading into the langue where the sleeping mats were, and a door led into a kitchen from there, a couch and a table were pushed into the other half of the room, there was a sort of half wall separating the entranceway and the lounge, leaving a gap, most of the walls were pink, not her favourite colour. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of old pizza, she would see to that quick enough. And sitting on the couch was the famed Master Roshi. He was reading something, he jumped when she tapped him on the shoulder, the magazine fluttered to the floor, she saw its cover  
  
"Pervert" she made a mental note to watch him very carefully, she wasn't afraid, the old bastard couldn't hurt her if her tried, not many people could, but she had her dignity to think about  
  
"Hello" he said, getting up, he looked her up and down before her hand whipped out and lifted his head to stare at her face  
  
"Master Roshi I presume" she said icily. He nodded; his gaze wandering downward again, a flash of anger shot through her, but if she had to live with the man she didn't want to be hitting him just yet  
  
"Divert your eyes old man," she ordered, he glanced back up at her face, and she was leaning over to hold onto him, thankful she was wearing a turtleneck jersey  
  
"And you are young lady?" his eyes kept sliding downwards she gave up and dropped his chin  
  
"Miko" she said icily, it was taking all her self control not to hit him, She remembered standing in the doorway acting for Robert; that had been degrading but this was much worse. Suddenly she smirked, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes as an evil look crept across her face.  
  
Tien tapped her on the shoulder; Master Roshi was backing away slowly, and the tension was rising. She looked over her shoulder, he stepped back in fear, she looked so, so, evil.  
  
Authors Note: Hmmm, am unsure where to take this one. Ideas would be appreciated. And now we delve into the mind of my favourite green haired vixen, and just what are her real intentions? Stay tuned to find out. No seriously, please? Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages 


	5. Ghosts of liesthe Lamia

CHAPTER FIVE: Ghosts of lies-the Lamia  
  
She looked so, so, evil, not the evil Master Roshi would like but another kind, her face showed a calculating vixen, he backed away, Yamcha and Chou zu behind him. She turned back to look at the cowering Master Roshi, she leaned right over, Tien avoided looking at her behind  
  
Miko smirked a little wider, she had them completely fooled  
  
"You know" she whispered huskily, the old man's ears pricked up, but fear was in all his movements, she could practically se him imagining her canines elongated, growing in size and ever sharpening. She decided to feed this illusion  
  
"Blood, is" she paused to give a demure chuckle  
  
"So tasty" she whispered nastily, her hand shot out and lifted him off the ground, she pulled his face close to hers and bared her teeth in a thoroughly frightening smiled  
  
Tien watched, almost afraid to move, he could practically see fangs growing in her mouth, he wondered how he could stop her, he wasn't superstitious by nature but this was getting scary, he had heard of vampires, but never female one, he realised she wasn't doing anything at this point, he blinked, what was she playing at then?  
  
Miko smirked again and dropped the old man, he scrambled away, she put her hands on her hips  
  
"Be warned, you couldn't handle me old man" she said in a fatal attraction type voice, she smirked again and turned to face three petrified warriors  
  
"What?" she asked  
  
"Where did that come from?" Yamcha asked, the fear leaving his voice Miko laughed once she was sure Master Roshi had left the room, se collapsed under the weight of her little game  
  
"I was screwing with his head guys, I didn't realise you'd be so scare of a Lamia"  
  
"Lamia?"  
  
"Female vampire, he actually fell for it well at least the old pervert'll watch his step from now on, you can tell beating the crap out of him is only a turn on, so I decided to scare him a bit"  
  
Tien went with relief  
  
"You had me fooled, man I was scared. How'd you do that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Be so convincing, honestly it's scary, I thought you were like some demon come to kill us all while you pretended to help us" she collapsed laughing again, he saw Yamcha and Chou zu laughing nervously  
  
"Honestly, I'm no Lamia, though I have been called a demon for various reasons" she said in between fits of laughter. Yamcha and Chou zu seemed to ease up  
  
"Please just don't do it again, it's really freaky. But I can see now how you got around the city so easily"  
  
"Yeah well, I've always been an actress, I spent the first week faking everything I did until I got settled, but dam, some of the people I played to; God, they were as bad as him, but I didn't plan on scaring them, I needed them, contacts make the world go round" she said lightly. Tien was beginning to see who Miko really was, he supposed just how much of her personality was built on acting, everything she did was geared to whoever she was speaking to. She was cold and calculating, he had seen it in her eyes, this unnerved him, now he understood the meaning of fatal attraction, he offered his hand  
  
"Your room's upstairs, I didn't think you'd want to sleep in the lounge with the rest of us" she took it and he pulled her onto her feet, she smirked for a second  
  
Miko ran her tongue across her teeth, she enjoyed messing with people, though she didn't do it often, she saw him flinch and decided to let it fester in him for a while, she liked having men afraid of her. Though she wouldn't admit it now she found later on that she was actually falling for Tien and scaring him gave her a sense of power, she didn't like feeling helpless and when she fell for a man in the past just once, she had felt that way, since then she had used every tool at her disposal besides her looks to be the one in control, and it had worked on most occasions, even if people didn't realise it she played them like harps, she would have each of them wrapped around her little finger soon enough, the ones that worried her were Piccolo, he did not flinch at her but she had played the best of them, he would be no different, she usually only with messed with people until she felt she could trust them, she hadn't played Bulma at all, but with males she was much more wary. She smiled sweetly and sauntered across the room to ascend the stairs, she smirked to herself as Yamcha inhaled sharply as she barely touched him in passing, this could turn out all right after all.  
  
Miko lay down on the small bed and closed her eyes, there was a cold breeze coming in from the open window, she couldn't be bothered getting up to close it. She heard a knock  
  
"Come in" she said drowsily  
  
"I'll leave your bag here ok" she heard Tien's voice  
  
"Thanks, hey listen, I didn't hurt you when I kicked ya did I?" she didn't open her eyes, she could almost see him smile, a sudden flash of nerves shot through her, she scolded them angrily, what was she thinking?  
  
"A bit, I'll get over it, you're a lot stronger than you look you know"  
  
"Well considering what I was wearing when you turned up I'm not surprised" she heard a chuckle  
  
"Yeah well, you should be pleased you can wear something like that and look so amazing, sleep well" she heard the door close and careful footsteps. She allowed herself to enjoy the compliment. Though it was not normally something she would tolerate. She would consider Tien a bodyguard of sorts, nothing else. But she could always enjoy it when he smiled and when he said nice things about her...she pulled herself up sharply, she told herself she was just lonely, or sleep deprived.  
  
What she didn't realise was Tien was getting his own back, for the episode in the lounge, she had been inches from him, he had planned his little remark carefully, it did not have the desired response though, she hadn't flinched, no matter. He had tried, it was slowly becoming apparent to him that behind that aggressive face was a highly intelligent cold hard and calculating woman, he wondered if the small amount of danger, hiding the huge amount of cunning, she radiated was what had drawn him to her. Maybe if he observed her long enough he could surmise who she really was, it was clear she was not who she seemed in brief flashes of swift skill and cunning, she had displayed it in her escape from the look out, he wondered whether it was in fact Dende's piercing stare or Piccolo who had actually scared her. Dende was extremely shrewd, but that came with being guardian, he had seen a little of her well guarded inner core and known her immediately, he made a note to ask him. He wondered if anyone else had figured she was anything more than a pretty, confused, teen with a drinking problem and a kid to look after. He doubted it, she was that good.  
  
As he tried to sleep Yamcha thought about the brief jolt of fear he had felt when she brushed past him, it wasn't attraction, he was too smooth, it was a warning, an almost telepathic symbol "keep your distance, I'm more than you could handle, I'd have you twisted around my little finger in a week, then I'd break your heart into little pieces with my bare blood soaked hands" he shivered, dismissing the thought she was anything other than a teenage girl with an attitude, telling his half conscious brain it was over active due to lack of sleep, he rolled over and drifted into fairy land, his own fairy land, where wood nymphs played, in their own sensual little skins....  
  
Miko awoke a few hours before dawn, she had never needed much sleep, she slipped out of bed and changed her clothes quickly, a jogging top and green sweat pants, she twisted her hair into a plait and twined it around her head. She smirked at her reflection in the full-length mirror in the corner and went to the window, she swung herself outside and up onto the sloping roof with only her arms, she crossed her legs and began to meditate, something she had not down in a long time, everything was slowing down now, she made a note to have it out with the green giant. She wanted to prolong meeting the little one again, he was unnerving in his conceptions of her, she did not like people to see through her many layers of amour the way she could see through theirs, she recognised a fellow brick layer in Piccolo, he went about it differently and less convincingly but he was good at it. She contemplated, anger was the easiest emotion to deal with, it was channelled into aggression, but anger was also rather transparent, so she used every acting tool at her disposal, she smirked, remembering the look on Tien's face. She was such a good actress she could even convince herself of some things.  
  
Tien knocked, there was no answer, he opened the door, the room was empty and the bed made, he saw the open window and swore, he turned and tore downstairs  
  
"She's gone!" he yelled, Yamcha and Chou zu were half way through breakfast. They looked up, alarmed  
  
"Not again" Yamcha groaned, they all tore into the lounge, Tien threw open the door to find her facing him, her arms folded  
  
"Morning" she said cheerily, Tien noticed a full bag hanging over her shoulder  
  
"I felt like some coconuts so I helped myself" she said innocently, Tien narrowed his eyes just a little  
  
Miko stood, waiting for him to move out of the way, when he did she secretly smirked, they had thought she had run off, however they were trying to hide, it, she would let them think she didn't notice. She put on her naive skin and asked cheerily  
  
"What're you all doing up so early, I mean, it's only dawn"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing" Miko shot a minimal glare at the Chou zu before answering with a laugh  
  
"Me? Oh I'm used to it, you see most modelling shoots start at dawn, you know so they can pick out just the right clothes, and do your hair and all the boring stuff like that, the fun part comes when you have to slide into the teeny weenie little outfits" she said cheerily but not too cheerily, otherwise her whole persona for these particulars would be ruined  
  
"So are you guys training or something?"  
  
Chou zu felt a flash of fear run through him at the look she gave him. He wondered if he should check out her mind, just to make sure she was what she appeared. But something in her eyes told him his mind would not handle what he would find in there, that tiny space of time where her eyes had cut into him he caught a glimpse of something that scared him, cold, hard and dangerous, he decided to be much more careful around her, he had a feeling she was a lot more powerful than she appeared as well  
  
Yamcha felt a jolt that ran right through him stop suddenly, for a second there he had almost wanted her. He shivered. This girl was..he couldn't describe it, she made him slightly uneasy now that she constantly close by, he supposed it was the fact she was not so aggressive now, possibly his old fear of girls was coming back, after all, she was considerably more dangerous than Bulma.  
  
Miko strolled inside and dumped the bag of coconuts on the coffee table and smirked at Master Roshi, he flinched "Hey listen, I need a trainer, you game?" he gulped then nodded.  
  
Miko smiled as Yamcha smashed into the sand. It was fun to watch them train, it also taught hr how to beat them more easily. Yamcha was way out of practice. She stood up and strode over to Chou zu  
  
"Ready?" the cute little guy was tying up his boots  
  
"Sure" Miko backed up a few paces and raised her fists. She specialized in single devastating moves, but was no match for any of the Z fighters in close combat, were few mistakes were made on their part, or they were too fast to be used. Chou zu charged, she dodged his initial attack, literally dancing on her toes all over the sandy island. Seeing an opening after every kick she waited for her chance. It came and she kicked forward, driving her fist into his face as a diversion and swinging her foot around to knock him off his feet. The agile little guy blocked her fist, and had it not been for her leather fingerless gloves she would have broken her fingers on his arm. He didn't see her foot coming. Chou zu landed on his rear, grinning.  
  
"You're pretty good" Miko extended her hand  
  
"I've had training in several different martial arts since I was a kid" she pulled him to his feet  
  
"It's mainly hit and run I'm good at but you guys are way too fast for that" she wiped the sweat from her brow, already there was a centimeter of regrowth. Tien landed beside her  
  
"Hey well done, you're really fast" Miko grinned  
  
"Not as fast as you guys" he smiled  
  
"We've been doing this a lot longer than you" Miko shrugged tiredly  
  
"I spose"  
  
Tien smiled and rose back into the air for another round with Yamcha. He followed her path to the house with his third eye. She was wearing loose black and green track pants and a blue and black jogging top. Her hair now the length of a bob cut slicked back by sweat. He wrinkled his nose, they all were rather smelly, but then they always were when they trained. He turned back to Yamcha and wished he had no nose like Krillin.  
  
Miko wrinkled her nose, she did get used to smelling like an over worked camel most of the day. Nothing a shower wouldn't fix, the good thing about this place was that no matter how bad you smelt there as always enough water to take at least five showers each a day. She stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel fifteen minutes later. Hearing the sound of blows and yells and grunts and the high yet adorable squeak of Chou zu, she just couldn't get over the little guy.  
  
Three weeks later.  
  
Miko rose a few inches off the ground. Tien held her waist to steady her. She released her breath and suddenly dropped. Tien lifted her gently  
  
"Try again" he encouraged softly. She nodded and closed her eyes, lifting a few feet in the air. Tien slowly let her go. She grinned and forced herself upwards.  
  
Yamcha watched as Tien rose behind Miko, ready to catch her if she fell. He glided lazily over to meet them. She was at nearly fifty feet, double the height of the house. As he reached she opened her eyes. He grinned as she glanced around. She suddenly yelped as she fell, Tien landed below her, she landed on top of him. Yamcha laughed as she got off the tri clops and promptly tripped over his leg. She scowled and went inside.  
  
Gohan landed to see Miko land on Tien. He grinned as she fell him and then stormed inside. Yamcha dropped beside him  
  
"She can't seem to get the hang of flying, that's the third time she's fallen this week. He hasn't figured out how to catch her without pissing her off so he just breaks her fall now" Gohan grinned wider  
  
"It's probably her fear of heights"  
  
"You're probably right, she said she wouldn't go back to see Dende until she can fly herself"  
  
"Good on her, believe me, none of us is brave enough to carry her. My neck has only just healed" Yamcha grinned  
  
"Come inside, anyway, how come you're here?"  
  
Miko put her feet up and lay her head back on the pillow. Most of her body was aching. There was a soft knock  
  
"Yeah?" Tien stuck his head around the door  
  
"You ok?"  
  
"I just can't get the hang of this Tien" she whined. He came in and sat next to her  
  
"Don't worry about it, most of us have been flying for years and it took us ages to learn"  
  
"But I don't wanna wait" she said quietly, feeling rather depressed. He grinned, wondering what to say  
  
"I didn't fall on you too hard did I?" she asked suddenly  
  
"No, you're not heavy enough to do any damage" Miko smiled  
  
"Thanks for putting up with me" He grinned and patted her knee in an older brotherly fashion, almost  
  
"It's ok, I don't mind" he stood to go. Suddenly on impulse  
  
"You want a drink?" he asked  
  
"Yeah thanks, give me ten minutes to shower" Tien nodded and left the room. Miko grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom  
  
Gohan smiled as Miko jumped at the sight of him, she was dressed in loose fitting combat style clothing and her hair was damp. She grinned and sat down at the table  
  
"What're you doing here?" she said, taking the drink Tien handed her. She smiled as Gohan's gaze slipped to the massive pile of food Chou zu had prepared  
  
"Help yourself, Chou zu seems to think I eat as much as you guys so there's always plenty to spare" Gohan dug in  
  
"Well" he said between mouthfuls  
  
"I came to see how you were doing, and to ask whether or not you wanted to do some specific training with me, Piccolo and my dad" she considered  
  
"What does this entail?" he swallowed a mouthful too large for a front-end loader to handle  
  
"It'll be in the hyperbolic time chamber, you see in there you can-"  
  
"I know what it is, go on" he flinched at the almost cold tone of voice, which disappeared immediately  
  
"And since only two can go in at a time, I was thinking, that we could do half a day, like you spend half the time training with my dad and half with Piccolo and then another half with me, and then rotate with Dad and we would end up spending half a day training and so would they, we'd get about 18 months each out of it, with different sparring partners and breaks every six months" she considered  
  
Miko thought hard. She did not like the idea of spending six months with the green man, she had no idea exactly what sort of "training" he would put her through if he had any contact with her at all. She was not afraid of him hurting her, she hadn't been afraid for her own life in a long time, she faked it sure, but never actually afraid. It was more that Piccolo now knew a sizable chunk of what made her tick, this did not sit well with her, she considered other options.  
  
"Don't we have a while anyway?"  
  
"Yeah, but it won't be enough, if we have a chance to get over a year's training in on top of the time we have we'll be better off, and with the gravity and weather in the hyperbolic time chamber it makes for much better training, I've used it once before and I have exactly 18 months left, so does dad and so does Piccolo"  
  
"Cool, when?"  
  
"In a few weeks, we have to convince my mum, I aged to eleven in there back when Cell turned up so she wasn't happy" she smiled  
  
"Chichi's alright, I'll talk to her, sure why not, at least I can get some trainers who won't go easy on me now" she cast a sideways glance at Tien and Yamcha who shifted uncomfortably  
  
"So make provisions for a year then?" he nodded  
  
"But it is a hard place to live in, some people can't last, it's like this abyss of white, so you gotta be careful" she nodded, knowing it would not be as hard a they thought it would, she had survived much worse in her time. She arranged to meet them in two weeks on the island. She could see Gohan praying she was able to fly by this time.  
  
Tien waved as Gohan left, then turned to Miko  
  
"Are you sure, the hyperbolic time chamber is not an easy place, some people have gone mad in it" She turned to frown at him, not angrily, just thoughtfully  
  
"I already am mad" she said hollowly and then went inside. Leaving Tien rather worried and very confused.  
  
"Dende?" Dende looked up and smiled at Chuo zu  
  
"Hello. What brings you up here, and where's Tien?" The short white emperor frowned worriedly  
  
"There's something strange about Miko, every now and again she just suddenly acts like-"  
  
"She's some one else, like what we know as Miko is just a ploy!" Dende finished; there was a look of triumph on his face, mirrored by Chou zu's  
  
"Yeah, no one else seems to notice, I mean it scared the heck outta me. I can't help but wonder if she's actually good, or jus playing us for fools"  
  
"She is not evil, I know that much but it is slowly becoming clear that nothing she does can be taken lightly, every action, every little gesture is aimed, not for a specific purpose, but to give a natural feel to the way she is acting, we've seen her don a few persona's now, it is not like a split personality, I believe it is intentional. I doubt many of the Z fighters would actually pick it up; she is very subtle. But she has proven to be one not to immediately trust" Chou zu solemnly  
  
Miko wondered how to tell Robert she was going to be gone for a day and come back looking like she'd been fighting a civil war, she had the feeling no one would be going easy on her at all. She shrugged as there was a knock at her door, she had not taken another contract after the first ended, she figured she would need some time to recover and to prepare, so she had been on the island for four days straight, with a severe case of cabin fever, she smiled restlessly at Tien  
  
"Packing already?" She scowled  
  
"I'm so bored, and beating you guys up is too easy, and if you won't fly me in then what am I supposed to do?"  
  
Tien smiled, she had been wandering aimlessly around the house, torturing Master Roshi mercilessly for two days now. It was quite interesting, almost like watching a deadly dance, she would sort of switch from persona to persona every few seconds, in the end Master Roshi would either go cross eyed or run, fast  
  
"You don't like staying in one place do you?"  
  
"Not unless I'm doing something, God knows how I'll handle the times chamber, with only the two most naive fighters in the universe and string bean to deal with" she sighed and sat down, kicking the half filled bag onto the floor. Tien grinned and sat across from her  
  
"You'll do fine, besides it's in breaks anyway, not like a whole year at a time" she groaned and collapsed back on the quilt so her head was by his knee  
  
"And just what am I supposed to do until then? I can't even stay off the ground for five minutes. How can I get up there? None of you would brave my nails again, and it's not as if I'm trying to cut up my only form of transport" Tien laughed  
  
"Practice flying I guess, and I'm done training a little early so I can fly you in to the mainland if you like"  
  
"Cool, I'll grab a laptop and some stuff to do off Bulma" he nodded.  
  
Miko jumped up and grabbed a coat, she was still extremely annoyed with herself for not learning to fly as quickly as she would like, this of course was immediately. She pulled the thick coat over herself and tightened the buttons, the thing looked horrible but she loved it. She grinned as Tien raised an eyebrow at her apparel, normally she wore color coordinated outfits, not by choice, but simply because she had been instructed to, she grinned and squidged her favorite baseball cap of her slightly tangled, and very unbrushed hair; she had slept in till midday and therefore such small matters as cleanliness were forgotten till the evening.  
  
Tien rose into the air, he held onto Miko's arm gently, she wobbled a little but stayed in the air, they shot through the air, he grinned as Miko laughed, her voice sounding oddly like the whistling wind, as though she was meant to be in the air. Ten minutes of flying and the capsule corp house came into view.  
  
"Hey Miko" Bulma called, the green/blonde haired girl waved and jumped down to meet her  
  
"Hey. I came to ask if I can borrow a laptop and some stuff to keep me busy, I haven't got a contract at this point so I have a major case of cabin fever" Bulma grinned and nodded  
  
"Hang on, I'll encapsulise some stuff for you"  
  
"How much do I owe ya" Bulma laughed  
  
"Nothing, don't worry about it"  
  
Miko shrugged, free was free, Bulma could give her a half chewed apple if it was free; she'd find a way to type on it. Bulma disappeared into her lab, leaving Miko to converse with Trunks  
  
"My dad say you're a weakling" Miko considered the best way to scare the little brat  
  
"Well up against him I probably would be, but apparently, I can kill a super saijin just like that" she gave a swish of her hand, indicating death. He jumped then smirked  
  
"Yeah right lady, you couldn't even hurt a fly" she smirked as a buzzing came to her ears, with a slash of her hand the bug fell in two pieces onto the coffee table, she said nothing  
  
"So what kind of training do you do?" she asked as if nothing had happened. He gulped a little and started talking about the super hard hundred and fifty times gravity training her did every day, she half listened, adding to the number of flies on the table every now and again. After a few minutes Bulma re-entered and handed her a capsule, Miko tested the weight  
  
"What did you put in this thing?" she asked, Bulma shrugged. Miko gave up with a sigh; the weight of the capsule suggested a lot of cargo. She thanked Bulma and strode outside, Tien helped her into the air, she saw a flash of lavender and smirked, the kid was terrified, though this did not bother her in he least.  
  
Tien saw Trunks hiding behind the house as they shot away; he shook his head, wondering just what Miko had done to scare him. He pulled up as she faltered. He now knew that she loved to scare people, she would put on an act and scare them witless and then spend her time reminding them, Master Roshi still flinched whenever she opened her mouth. He started as she grinned evilly at him, reading his thoughts.  
  
"What?" she asked innocently. A flash of suspicion raced through him, he made a note to warn Piccolo, Gohan and Goku before they went into the chamber; he had a feeling training her would only add to the fatal edge she seemed to bear beneath the fine and invisible line anyone could cross at any time, he still had no idea if she was even on the side of good. He smiled nervously as her eyes bored into his skull, as though drawing out his thoughts. He gulped and focused on not flying into a mountain.  
  
Miko planned to herself what she would do in the time chamber; she would suffer badly from cabin fever so the laptop was essential. She noted Tien sweating slightly under her gaze, she smirked to herself, she had him terrified, but for some reason this did not please her as it once did.  
  
Authors note: hmmm, this was cheesy I know but I have to fill in space and give certain plots a chance to bud, just go with m and I promise the next chapter will have less dairy (low fat perhaps?)  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen  
  
All review are welcome. Who knows? Maybe your valuable opinions will make me a better author. Kami knows I need it. :D 


	6. Truth TrustThe scent of fear

CHAPTER SIX: Truth. Trust-The scent of fear  
  
Miko landed on the polished white tiles, Piccolo was floating above the centre of the huge bowl shaped platform, she rose into the air to match his height, going slowly as the journey up had tired her, he ignored her presence though she knew he was aware of her floating right beside him, she expended a large amount of energy coming up here. After a time she smirked, Dende had walked out, she didn't like the kid, she didn't know him particularly well but the simple fact that he was not so easily fooled made it extremely difficult to play him as she did the others. She grinned as he waved, she wondered what the namek would do if she whacked him right now; probably hit her harder than she could handle, this didn't bother her. Her hand shot out and clipped his ear, his long fingers closed around her wrist, she smirked and dug her nails into the spot she knew sensitive nerves would be, he didn't open his eyes though she could read flickers of well hidden pain in his movements, his pulse was nearly double the speed of her own, with a swift motion he ripped her hand away from his ear and went back to ignoring her, she smirked, having got the desired result  
  
"Hello" she said sweetly, releasing her hold over her own weight, landing cat like in front of Dende, he jumped back as she narrowly missed him on the way down  
  
"What were you doing?" he asked amazedly. She smiled sweetly, now that she knew what the green brat was like she could play him much better  
  
"Just letting him know I will not be man handled," she said, letting a little fury flash in her eyes,  
  
"So I take it Tien said I wanted to see you" he said quietly  
  
"Actually, none of the others know I am ere, my ki is too small to sense at a distance" she leaked a hint of bitterness into her voice  
  
"Why don' you come inside"  
  
"No thanks, I'm not worried if he hears anything I say" she said coolly  
  
"Where do they think you are?"  
  
"Oh I am soooo getting sick of this, everyone acts like I'm some little kid who needs to be watched, I mean where am I gonna go? My brother is near by, my job is nearby, I have no other means of supporting myself" she ticked off the reasons on her fingers  
  
"I mean the only reason I hang around is so I can train, until a month ago I had never had a half way decent challenge in my life, I took on the world champion, if this is the best humanity has to offer then I have to look a little further a field" she indicated Piccolo who was descending, behind her  
  
Dende smiled  
  
"It's not that we think you won't come back it's just that.. well, I don't mean to offend you, but the way they found you indicates that you aren't as strong as you believe, and looking the way you do you make an easy looking target, if we lose you the earth is doomed" he jumped as something flicked in her eyes, it was only there for a second, but it scared the living daylights out of him, she stepped forward, and placed a hand on his cheek, a demure smile on her face  
  
"Do you know what I did to that perverted old man on the island" she whispered in a seductive husky voice, he swallowed noisily as her hand suddenly gripped his neck, he wondered why Piccolo wasn't stopping her, he saw the green giant smirking  
  
"Well maybe I should demonstrate," she said in a sultry, yet deadly voice, he picked up the tiniest hint of calculation in her movements but it was too faint to tell. She lifted him off the ground and pulled him to within an inch of her own face, he could see her canines glinting as she drew the tip of her tongue over them in a hungry sort of way, this was terrifying, she couldn't be acting, it was too real  
  
"Catch" she said softly and threw him to the side, he flew with such force he could not stop himself, a pair of hands grabbed him, he looked up and saw a scowling Piccolo. The older namek set him on his feet and stalked over to the girl, she had deliberately thrown him at the palace. Dende shook his head, what had he seen in her eyes?  
  
Piccolo leered over the scowling girl  
  
"You don't want to mess with me" she said softly, he smirked  
  
"You're nothing to me, a weakling"  
  
"Oh really" she said, her eyes glinting with something Piccolo did not like  
  
"Yes really" he folded his arms, towering over her, she turned her back on him and folded her arm  
  
"Go on then" she said tauntingly  
  
"Why would I waste my time on such a weakling, I wouldn't want to break the earth's only hope in half" he said amusedly, she chuckled evilly  
  
"I'm tougher than I look, tell you what, I'll make it easy for you" she removed the heavy denim jacket and threw it aside, revealing a tight grey tank top, he noted the powerful, yet not excessively large shoulders, that explained how she had delivered such a blow before. He scowled as she placed both arms behind her back and stuck them in the pockets of the tight jeans. She began to hum and bob her head to the incredibly annoying tune, he heard Dende make a noise of disbelief. She started to tap her booted foot in time to the irritating song she kept repeating  
  
"Fine but if you die it is not my problem" she laughed  
  
"Whatever" he charged, thinking he would simply bluff and scare her, what he wasn't expecting was that she kept humming, not moving at all, he stopped an inch from her, suddenly she spun around and slashed at his face. He jumped back, blood covering his vision. He cursed as she resumed humming, a satisfied smirk across her features, he scowled harder, pain shooting through his face, she had gotten him right across the eyelids.  
  
Dende gaped; she had gotten him. He was now sure she wasn't as weak as she acted. He was now sure nothing this girl did was skin deep, every move she had made had set her up to appear this way. Nothing she did seemed to make any strategically sense until several weeks later. She was smart, incredibly smart; he wondered just how genuine she was about helping them  
  
"That was for grabbing me" Miko told the green Giant, cold fury holding her voice steady, she knew he wouldn't actually try anything, she was too important, she decided to screw with his head, just to get her own back, she would take her time with this one though  
  
"Why are you still here" he growled  
  
"Because It annoys you so much" she said sweetly. A plan forming quickly in her mind  
  
"And the guardian over there who looks so." she licked her upper lip in a seductive manner  
  
"Tasty, wanted to speak with me" she suddenly stepped a little closer to him, her voice husky  
  
"You know" she said softly  
  
"I've always wondered just what you have under the big cloak of yours, I mean, you can't be all that, alien." she reached out to run her hands up his arm, Piccolo jerked away. She smirked  
  
"Like I said, you don't want to mess with me" her voice was hard and her arms folded. Piccolo tried to hide his increasingly widening eyes. He heard Dende clear his throat, the girl turned as if to leave when he called her back  
  
"Wait! I still need to speak with you" she turned back, a smug look across her face, Piccolo was unsure as to this girl's motives, she was a devilish little vixen in any case, he knew now she was only screwing with his head before, but it had been so real.  
  
"You've got five minutes," she said icily. Miko smirked as the green squirt crept over to her and opened his mouth  
  
"Well, you see I need to know what kind of connection you have with your twin"  
  
"How should I know?"  
  
"Piccolo will not repeat anything you say here, you have already proven you are not all you seem, if keeping this visade is so important to you nothing that has happened up here will go any further"  
  
Dende watched as the invisible mask he wasn't even aware of disappeared suddenly, she took a deep breath and the cool in control look he now recognized as what he saw in her eyes ever now and again completely faded, even when appearing terrified she was always in the driver's seat, somehow twisting it so she got what she wanted or needed. She nodded slowly  
  
"Let's go inside" she said quietly, Dende nodded and motioned her to follow him. He led her into the palace and into his personally study. She took a seat and rested her head in her hands. Dende sat behind his desk of sorts and leaned forward  
  
"So what exactly do you know?" she took another deep breath  
  
"First off, what I thought was epilepsy is in fact my twin as you say, it starts with an injury, my blood is literally blue, so I had to hide any cuts and grazes, this made me a wild, highly defensive kid, my twin has a lot to do with this I believe, otherwise I would have turned out quite differently; I had wonderful parents, this taught me the value of acting, though I rarely used it, then I started going into trances, feeling the thoughts of another, only on certain occasions, when I was hurt or angry or scared, it was like this non awareness sort of saved me, I found I was a lot stronger than any girl my age, this made me uncontrollable, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, because when I shut down in a trance, I actually had a fit of sorts, the meds they gave me suppressed this for a while, then they came back, worse, stronger, my own voice would start talking to me, telling me not to trust people, I ignored it for ages, it didn't bother me at all for some reason, but I made the mistake of telling some on about this voice and it landed me in a shrink's office, they diagnosed me with schizophrenia and were amazed at the fact it didn't drive me nuts, so they did all these freaky tests on me and found pretty much nothing, They gave me more meds and that stopped the voice, then I was found to be mildly autistic because of my violent nature, yet at the same time school wasn't hard, when something interested me I would do it well, and no amount of coaxing could make me do it again. This is basically my history, when you told me about my twin it all fell into place, I stopped taking the meds years back and the fits an the voice came back, not strong now though, I guess she was too far away, but four years ago; before my adoptive parents died, I had this massive fit, I just dropped in the middle of class screaming my head off, the voice was yelling into my ear and it was like being on fire, I passed out, and when I woke up I was practically tied down in some sort of ward. I found I was basically covered in bandages, When some one came in they gave me some sort of shot and it put me out, When I next woke up I was seriously pissed, I later found out I had somehow gotten like a weird variation of the stigmata, you know that thing where people get wounds in their hands and side and feet, like they were crucified, though this looked like a I had been near a bomb, though I was lucky and I had few scars, except this" She lifted her shirt enough to show a long thin scar across her ribs, a millimetre below her bra. Dende nodded  
  
"Go on"  
  
"I spent two months in an institution, they were trying to find out what the hell was wrong with me, I became some sort of experiment to them They referred to me as  
  
"That wild one" I caused so much trouble. They shoved some meds into me and I basically stayed in an aware coma for a few months and stopped taking them too, and then here I am, I still hear the voice every now and again and I get weird feelings, like I want to suddenly kill or something weird like that, I learned to control it and then my parents died so I raised Sheme, and then you guys found me" Dende thought carefully  
  
"So you were aware of your twin but were unable to really find out much about her"  
  
"Not really, but I hear her dreams like I'm in her head or something" he wondered what else she was hiding for he knew this was not all she knew  
  
"Anything else?" he said softly, she flinched  
  
"Nothing of importance"  
  
"Anything is of importance," he said carefully. He knew that she was not happy about sharing the inner workings of her mind, most people weren't he in one hell of an extreme, she was not in control and she did not like this. She took a deep breath  
  
"I can speak to her sometimes, like she tells me things and I answer her, in my head, she hears me, I always considered it just part of being nuts, I mean she drove me insane more than once. I have a record, look up Miko Faski on any police computer, you'll find quite a bit, anything to do with walking up to a complete stranger and kicking the crap out of them and such. I basically hear her voice from time to time and she plagues me till I go nuts and hit the first thing I see, this often results in getting arrested, though not after several officers are down, for some reason I never get put away, I just spend the night in prison and they let me out. And in the cell I have a merry little conversation with this psychotic voice, generally I hurl abuse at it and it laughs" Dende thought hard, it seemed her twin had been helping along the destructive part of Miko's personality, this was not a good thing  
  
"I can try and heal the scars she left in your mind" he said gently  
  
"No, there's no point, it won't change who I am, I mean it wasn't really her who did the damage, it was the people around me, by forcing meds into me they forced her to use more insistent ways to reach me, and besides, I don't want you crawling around inside my head" Dende nodded  
  
"You had a rough life didn't you?" suddenly the cool mask was in place  
  
"I lived" She said lightly. Dende blinked, she was back to what he would call her normal self  
  
"You don't like taking down that wall do you?" she blinked at him  
  
"Huh?" Dende smiled, if he hadn't seen who she really was he could have sworn he had dreamed the tiniest of changes in her face that brought her back to the calculating hardened actress he knew so little about and feared more than a little  
  
"Don't worry" he shook his head  
  
"I have a question of my own now" he looked at her face; she seemed to have suddenly aged ten years, he supposed offloading such a weight could do that to you "Shoot"  
  
"Will she be able to reach me in the hyperbolic time chamber?" he frowned  
  
"I have no idea, why?'  
  
"Didn't Piccolo tell you? I'm training in there with him, Gohan and Goku in six-month blocks for eighteen months" he frowned  
  
"No, he didn't tell me" she shrugged  
  
"I have to go" she seemed a little confused, shaken up maybe, Dende knew this was not an act. He took her arm gently, stopping her from getting up, now understanding she had held off falling apart as long as she could  
  
"Hang on a second" he said gently, she shook her head in a disoriented manner  
  
"No, I-I have to go" he placed both hands on her shoulders  
  
"Stay" he said softly, she buried her head in her hands. He crouched so he was looking up at her. He saw tears slipping through her fingers.  
  
Miko fought tears, tears were weak, these were real tears and she couldn't convince herself they weren't. She clamped her teeth and fought sobs, her breathing stopped simply to hold them in. She hated crying, she hated being weak, she felt anger at herself for being so weak well up inside her. The voice suddenly hissed in her ear "Kill" she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide  
  
"What is it?" Dende asked, there was a slight edge of panic in his voice  
  
"N-nothing" she croaked, he took a long hard look at her, his eyes piercing her fragile shield easily  
  
"You heard something" he said shrewdly. She shook her head but ended up nodding.  
  
Piccolo watched as she took off the edge of the balcony. Dende came out a little slower  
  
"I take it you heard" he nodded  
  
"Cunning little fox isn't she?"  
  
"Uh huh. I nearly missed the switch over, you don't even see it until she has you wrapped around her little finger, then it's too late" Piccolo smirked  
  
"She really scared you shitless" Dende nodded ruefully  
  
"She had me pegged, knew just what would scare me and played on it till I nearly wet myself" Piccolo smirked  
  
"She's pretty strong, to be honest she should have been able to break my grip on her wrists the last time she was up here, so unless she's been training she was actually using me as an excuse to run for it" Dende nodded  
  
"She didn't like the fact I caught a glimpse of who she really was, even now I'm not sure if her little story was actually a carefully planned ploy or not, but it gives me some clues as to how to beat her twin, I have some thinking to do" he turned and headed back into the palace, Piccolo frowned, suddenly hearing a noise, he listened hard but felt nothing  
  
Miko scowled, he thought she was fooling him, for the first time in well over three years she had let her entire guard down completely and he thought it was acting! She scowled and began to climb down the ladder, hoping Piccolo would not hear her. No green streak came to snatch her form the tower so she breathed a sigh of relief and jumped, fighting gravity at the last moment and soaring up again, rising up from the very close ground.  
  
Tien smiled as Miko came into view, flying unsteadily but flying none the less, even in the air her ki was hard to pick up at a distance. She landed with a thud and promptly landed unceremoniously on her rear, he laughed and helped her up  
  
"Still getting used to it?" he asked  
  
"Not really, the overall concept of having nothing beneath you scares the hell outta me"  
  
Tien frowned as Miko got up looking tired, suddenly focusing on her face, her eyes were swollen and blue, this confused him but he said nothing as she slipped inside and ascended the stairs. He followed her quietly; he heard the sound of sobbing from her closed door. Taking a deep breath he knocked softly, the sobs abruptly stopped. There was the sound of hurried footsteps and the door opened a crack  
  
"What?" her voice sounded strained  
  
"It's me, Tien" he said quietly  
  
Miko swore softly, at the one time she had her guard down he had to turn up. She was more afraid of anyone seeing her unguarded, exposed self than annoyed  
  
"Can I come in?" he asked. She inhaled sharply, but could find no reason why not, she took a deep breath and stepped back, pulling the door open. He stepped inside and she closed the door carefully. Tien turned to look at her, she stared at the floor  
  
"You ok?" he asked softly  
  
She avoided his gaze, shifting uncomfortably, he stepped closer, touching her shoulder, she flinched  
  
"Hey what's the matter?" she exhaled deeply and shook her head  
  
"I.I just, I just had a bad day" he tilted her head so as to see her face, her eyes were shot with blue and the edges were puffy it was a strange sight, he guessed her blood was blue, another legacy of her father, he noticed also that the golden eyes were dulled to almost a brown. She sniffed a little  
  
"Look, I'm a mess, I just need a minute, that's all, I'll be down for dinner later ok?' he shook his head  
  
"You're a wreck" she scowled, though not convincingly  
  
"Thanks" she croaked hollowly  
  
"What happened?" she took a deep breath  
  
"I went to see Dende" he started  
  
"I thought you went to work" she shook her head. He removed his hand from her chin noticing the fine bones and delicate shape  
  
"What happened, another run in with Piccolo?" his fists clenched for a second. She shook her head, a weak smile tugging at the corners of her mouth  
  
"I-I just, he wanted me to tell him some stuff something about finding a way to win, personal stuff. Stuff I haven't thought about most of the last three years until you guys came along and turned my whole life upside down, and-and, I'm not used to just spilling everything, no one knows what I told him. And.and it was scary saying that stuff"  
  
"About your twin?" he asked tentatively, she half shook half nodded her head  
  
"About being crazy, you heard when I said I had a mild form of epilepsy, stuff to do with that" Tien took her arm and sat her down on the bed, seating himself beside her  
  
"You don't like being vulnerable do you?" he stated more than asked. She shook her head, half giggling half sobbing. He patted her shoulder  
  
"You're strong Miko, but you're also human, well sort of" she giggled a little  
  
"And that means you can't hide your emotions. It's ok to let yourself cry, even Piccolo's cried a few times. Vegeta has, and in front of Goku. I have, we all have really. You can't bottle everything up until you go crazy"  
  
"I already am, I told you once and I meant it" she said, her voice choked.  
  
"I'll listen if you wanna talk" suddenly she hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder, he heard small sobs as she held him tight, he patted her shoulders carefully. Tien was surprised at this, not that she was anti contact she just never seemed to actually invite any, as though you unconsciously knew that it would not be well received. She pulled away and stared at her knees  
  
"Thanks" she said quickly, looking out the window, he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze  
  
"It's ok" he said softly, she nodded and he stood up  
  
"No one will think you're weak Miko, you've already proven you're far from it" She managed a weak smile and nodded, he left the room quietly  
  
Miko stared into the night sky, she knew she looked like hell, though this was not the issue, it was making sure no one noticed, no matter what Tien said she still hated crying; crying was weak. Maybe not to them but it was to her, It had been a long time since she had broken down, no amount of physical pain could bring tears, no amount of emotional pain had brought her tears since long before her parents had died, however much she had loved them she had not shed one tear. Sheme had bawled and she had let him but she refused to cry, and when she was backed against a wall with no way out she had ended up a blubbering idiot. She scolded herself for such idiocy, if she had known she wouldn't handle it then why had gone in the first place. She should have known the little green bean would get it out of her, she was a good actress but being guardian seemed to give the little bugger a distant advantage. She slipped into the upstairs bathroom and doused her face in cold water. It stung her wind burned cheeks but she ignored it, cursing her female irrationality, now it was using any excuse, even a little pain to start her bawling again. She cursed angrily and slapped her cheeks with both hands, the shock and the water made a considerable impact and it was hard to tell who suffered more, her face, or her hands. The shock dried up any tears that might have come and she dried her face and now sopping hair. She studied her face in the mirror, her eyes were still a little blood shot but this would not indicate crying, as her blood was blue, she doubted anyone of her companions would make the connection. And the puffiness around her eyes was gone. She scowled and took her make up bag. She smirked as she applied foundation and eye shadow, not much, just enough to blend. She inspected her handiwork; Sally had instructed her on the art of make up long ago and gifted her the bulging bag of what she referred to as "The basics." Miko had never used it until this point and even then she wore so little it was barely noticeable, though it did have a huge impact on her face, she looked much older, not aged old, but mature older. She guessed they would notice a change but not a dramatic one, she dulled the eye shadow a little and changed her clothes, the ones she wore stank, she always sweated a lot when she flew, though this was understandable when one considered just how difficult it was for her, she had nearly fallen out of the sky a few times  
  
Tien blinked as Miko entered the room and took her customary place, she only ate with them every now and again, often eating a lot earlier than them and spending her evenings curled up with the laptop Bulma had given her. It would be another week until she went back to the lookout. He started when he focused on her face; there was something different about it, though he was not sure exactly what it was. She glanced at him and began to serve herself. Yamcha and Chou zu were already halfway through their third bowl of the newest culinary creation Chou zu had whizzed onto the table. As usual she ate little and left early. He noted that any sign of tears were long gone; he wondered just how she had managed that.  
  
Miko closed her eyes and found she could not sleep, as normal she had spent a few hours reading while the others trained in the twilight. The fact she barely slept at all did not help her stress levels right now. She scowled and tossed and turned. Getting nowhere at all except messing up her bed. She cursed and got up, slipping a dressing gown over her pyjamas. She glided across the room and opened the window. She breathed in the cool night air and slipped outside as was her customary way.  
  
Tien started from his restless sleep, he heard soft footsteps and looked about him, they were coming from upstairs, he strained his senses, they headed to the right and suddenly stopped he got up and slipped outside, knowing they had been headed for the window, he was not sure who it was, but if it wasn't Miko he was worried  
  
Miko sat with her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them, the full moon glowed above her, bathing the watery world in silver. She sighed restlessly, normally this was relaxing for her but she was deeply troubled tonight, there was a small thud and she nearly fell off the roof at the sight of Tien  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed  
  
Tien shrugged apologetically  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought I heard noises, I was worried some one was trying to get into the house" he said softly, her face softened as she regained her balance, she patted a piece of roof beside her  
  
"It was me, I sit up here most nights" he seated himself behind her, her voice was not a whisper, just quiet  
  
"You don't sleep?"  
  
"A few hours maybe, but I never needed much, when I was a kid my parents could never figure out how I managed to stay awake yelling and bitching till three am and then be as awake as anyone else, except them, the poor people never got any sleep at all, and I did it every night, never any change, but I need at least two hours sleep every night otherwise I shut down, I've fallen asleep in the middle of a movie once"  
  
"We've all done that once"  
  
"No this was a horror/thriller, lots of explosions, screaming, psycho noises, stuff like that, the guy I was with got so confused, he was gonna do the whole "protect the scared girl" act and when he looked at me I was dead to the world, drool and all" Tien stifled a snort of laughter. He tilted his head to the side, noticing how different she looked by moonlight.  
  
"What?' Miko found he way he was staring at her to be both comforting and yet frightening, he started  
  
"Nothing" he said quickly, she tilted her head to the side, frowning slightly  
  
"It's just that." he shrugged  
  
"I can see why you make such a fantastic model" the words were jumble and half mumbled but Miko understood. He blushed deeply. Miki smiled, a real smile. She mentally shrugged; he had already seen her cry, he had seen her in a two-inch piece of cloth, he had seen her screaming, her had seen her attacked and he had seen her drunk, there wans't much more of her to see. She leaned into him and little, her hand resting on his arm, she whispered in his ear, not acting, or scaring him, just being honest  
  
"Well you're cute too" she said warmly  
  
Tien inhaled sharply as a warm feeling spread over him as she shifted a little closer and leaned on him. He awkwardly placed a hand on hers. Noticing the dramatic size difference. She sighed a little and Tien was struck again by just how gorgeous she really was, he now understood what the word "pretty" meant.  
  
They spent a few hours under the moon until Tien fell asleep. Miko smiled to herself as she slung him over her shoulder, he was two inches taller than her and her arms would not fit all the way around him, so carrying him was difficult, she placed him on his sleeping mat and glided upstairs, making a note to lift some more weights, even with training, the guy was not light.  
  
Authors note: hmmm, what will we do? After all Miko is due to go and spend a year and a half in the hyperbolic time chamber soon, so how would she handle over a year and a half away from Tien? And just what will happen, if anything between them? Yeah well you were warned, extreme mush follows, along with a large amount of drool, guess who it's from though.  
  
Chou!  
  
The Raven Queen  
  
By de way. I likes review ya know ;D  
  
Like me snake?  
  
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	7. All the time in the worldinsanity sets i...

CHAPTER SEVEN: All the time in the world-insanity sets in  
  
Nokia sat on a pedestal pouting seductively. She was clad in a toga of sorts that did not sit well with her as it sat very low, too low, but her job seemed to always pull her out of her comfort zone and since she wanted independence and something to fall back on should she ever wish to excuse herself from the Z fighters. She still did not trust any of them. She was in fact viewing the hyperbolic time chamber as a grand opportunity to find more about certain fighters' minds and personalities, she already knew a great deal just by observing them, but Piccolo worried her slightly, he knew too much, this she did not like. She wondered what she meant to do, after all, she had no purpose, no plan, she was simply playing them, but was there a reason? After all, if she wanted she could escape easily enough, so why was her guard forever up? She contemplated this as she changed poses every now an again, her expression shifting through it's seductive paces. She supposed she needed a back up plan, but what for? Sheme was happy, she was happy. She suddenly jumped. She was happy? She carefully ran over her thought processes, wondering just how she had come to such an absurd thought.  
  
"Nokia! What are you doing?" She jumped violently, falling right off her perch and onto the floor, the thin white toga fluttering up to reveal her boxers. She hurriedly pulled it down.  
  
Sally blinked, for a minute there Nokia had, she couldn't describe it, she just looked different, like she had slipped out of reality for a minute there. It was not often anything at all fazed Nokia; she had nerves of steel one never realised until one saw them. She frowned and offered her hand, The green haired model did not take it. She grinned to herself. Nokia's hair was indeed natural; she had cut off the blonde a few weeks ago.  
  
Nokia got to her feet and blinked  
  
"You ok girl?" Sally asked, she referred to Nokia as many things, always friendly. Nokia rubbed her forehead with her hand  
  
"I dunno, I think I have a bug or something, it's breaking my concentration" the lies flowed easily though her lips. Robert nodded  
  
"Well we don't want you looking like a wreck on the front cover of a magazine, take the week off" of this was exactly what Nokia wanted; space, freedom, and alone time. She changed her clothes quickly and hurried into the street, with her hair hidden under a baseball cap.  
  
Tien wondered whether Miko would indeed call him to come get her. She could still barely fly and would normally wait for him on a roof or the outskirts of town. Strangely enough on rare occasions she flew like a pro, but normally she would end up leaving large craters or simply not getting off the ground. He listened inside for the sound of the phone. There was a blunt pain to his lower jaw, he blinked and signalled a break. Yamcha shrugged and wandered inside, no doubt to ring his latest girlfriend. He had confided in Tien that he was highly interested in Miko, of course, this bothered Tien, he told himself it was simply because he was worried for Miko, Yamcha was known as a player. But when he really thought about it there were two reasons, neither of which he would admit, firstly, he was worried about Yamcha, he knew deep down that Miko was not one to trust, she could be deliberately inviting it for some revenge she was planning, he was slowly learning that she had a real taste for revenge, he also had a feeling that she had actually had a run in with Piccolo, though he doubted she was the one who came off second best. He sat down on the sand to consider. The other and even harder one to admit, and the main reason he would not admit the first was that deep down, every now and again, he saw a tiny flicker of a real person in her golden eyes, he found himself not just attracted to her physically, and there were few of the male Z fighters who had seen her out of the baggy combats and bulky shirts that could say they weren't, but emotionally he felt a connection, something powerful, and however cliché it sounded to him and most likely would to her, profound. He wondered if she even knew she had a soul, for surely it must be there. However she hid it. He knew she was playing them now, but it seemed so natural he doubted his perceptions more than once a day. He wondered what it was like to be constantly on guard, forever thinking through the options and how they would result. He sighed heavily and stood up, pushing these confusing thoughts down to the pit of his stomach and resuming his training alone  
  
Miko sighed, she was sitting cross legged on top of the highest building she could find. It overlooked the whole city, shaped like a huge disk set on a narrow tower, much like a metal grey version of the lookout. She sighed again, looking at the dying sun, she had been an hour on the very lip of the roof already and her thoughts had gotten her nowhere except a confused mess. She suddenly felt the urge to throw herself off the edge just for the thrill of it. She blinked a few times. She hadn't seen Sheme all day, in some ways now that so many other things were crowding in on her life it became harder to look after him as she used to. She took him out every day for a few hours but it was not the same, he was the only factor in her life that stopped her from doing just what she had found herself thinking of before. She thought carefully through everything and found no reason to be the way she was, except...  
  
She was.  
  
She took a deep breath.  
  
  
  
  
  
And stepped over the edge.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's note: Didn't see THAT one coming did ya?  
  
Review and tell me what you think. 


	8. Would you like fries with that?

A/N: Here's the deal peoples. This story numbers about fifty five chapters, so I'm going to upload it in five chapter sections, possibly less. K? So that's why there's so much text.  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT: Death, time and retribution-the strong will fall  
  
"I surrender to it's sweetness And return death's soft kiss Lying in my crimson ocean My own blood My life I taste it's sweet aroma And touch it's gentle still The pain before the calm is quiet But hell Hell Hell I listen to it speaking Inviting me to stay I give in to its askings To have my calm snatched away. A world of turmoil And never ending emptiness Death will come for me It stalks me A huntress after her prey I close my eyes and wait For death's sweet embrace And enfold it in my arms For there is no more final Than the sweet embrace Of death"  
  
Miko sailed downwards, breathing in the sweetness of approaching death. Her silent flight making her think of mythical ravines, where magical peoples flew silently to die as their kind did.  
  
Tien looked up, something was wrong, he didn't know what, just knew something was wrong. He leapt into the air, one thought on his mind; Miko  
  
He found her face down on the empty street. She had fallen, out of the sky most likely. He felt fear and anguish course through him. He knelt beside her to hear slow breathing. He rolled her over; she was conscious, her eyes hollow and empty  
  
"Another fall?" he asked quietly, she nodded blankly, no expression, nothing  
  
Miko did not move as he lifted her gently, she felt no pain, no emotion, just blank emptiness. She was aware of being carried and had a sense of weightlessness, the first feeling that came to her.  
  
"No more flying unless it's with one of us" Tien told her sternly. She had really done it this time, her whole front was covered in gravel and he could see bruising from her collarbone to right underneath the boat necked blouse she wore under her favourite vinal jacket. She did not seem at all aware. This surprised him, now he had seen her eyes empty and staring for real it occurred to him how bright and quick and sharp they normally were. He landed on the island.  
  
Miko gradually came out of her unaware state to find herself in a bed, some one was sitting next to her and she realised she was no longer wearing her jacket. Awareness came gradually, unlike normal when it crashed in on her. She raised her had and saw Tien sitting on the foot of the bed. He smiled as they locked eyes for a second  
  
"Feeling ok?" he asked, she blinked, doing a mental check of her body for any pain, she blinked again and then frowned  
  
"Yeah" she wonderingly  
  
"Yeah I feel...great" He grinned  
  
Tien was relieved, but inwardly he was perplexed. He noted the bruising had disappeared from what he could see of her front where the boat neck collar had been pulled down enough to reveal a healthy portion of cleavage, as she had twisted and turned under the thick covers. She sat up, this resulted in it moving even further down, he looked away, she did not appear to notice  
  
"Umm, what happened?" she asked quietly. He frowned  
  
"I don't know, I found you face down on the street, I assumed you'd fallen" She frowned as well  
  
"But, how come you came? I don't remember ringing you" he blushed  
  
"Oh.I-I, I thought you.well, you see, when you didn't ring I was worried" he finished lamely. She smiled a little  
  
"I don't remember" she said vaguely. He sighed and suddenly there was a knock. Yamcha stuck his head around the door. His gaze almost immediately fell on her front.  
  
"You're awake" he said, sounding rather distant. He jumped a little and grinned, reverting his eyes  
  
Miko slid under the covers, she was cold all of a sudden, and unsure as to why. At this point she was not really thinking about much except for the fact she could not remember a thing. Yamcha grinned again for some reason  
  
"Hungry?" she shook her head  
  
"Thirsty though" He nodded and both him and Tien left the room  
  
Once halfway down the corridor Tien grabbed Yamcha by the collar and slammed him into a wall  
  
"What the hell was that" he snarled. Yamcha blinked  
  
Yamcha blinked again, numb shock coursing through him  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about?" he said slowly, not understanding exactly what his snarling comrade was talking about. Suddenly Tien blinked. He stared at him for a second then jumped back, his eyes wide in horror  
  
"What the" he swore loudly. Yamcha frowned  
  
"You ok?" he asked, his friend held his head for a second then turned a full circle, shaking his head, his two eyes closed. Seemingly drunk  
  
"Sorry" he shook his head, staring at his hands as if they were covered in blood.  
  
"...Sorry" he grunted, racing down the stairs  
  
As he sat down heavily on the wet sand Tien wondered what he had just done, he remembered anger and possessive energy course through him, for a second he had wanted to kill Yamcha. He shook his head dazedly. There was the sound of soft footsteps on sand behind him and he looked up to see Miko watching him a few feet away  
  
Miko frowned and pulled the thin gown tighter about herself. She watched Tien, her face expressionless. He looked at her in what looked like sorrowful exasperation, if there was such a thing. He turned his back on her, resting his head in his hands. Miko sighed silently and came to sit next to him. He looked up and she was startled to see his expression, it was....she couldn't describe it, a mix of affection, anger, hate, sorrow, horror and..love? She sat staring at him, she did not know how long. Eventually she went to sleep leaning on his shoulder, unsure as to why. The last thing she felt was a soft kiss on her forehead. Later on she would feel sure it was a dream brought on by whatever was screwing with her head.  
  
*  
  
Miko spent a few days more preparing meticulously for her trip, a growing sense of foreboding came over, she avoided Tien carefully, again her acting skills came in handy and no one noticed. But saying good bye was something she could not avoid, when the time came to wait for Gohan and Goku (Piccolo would meet them up there) she would say all her good byes separately, Yamcha was easy enough, a brief hug and a word was all that was needed, Chou zu; she just bid him good luck. But Tien, she didn't know what to say to him, it would be two days to him but over a year for her, how would she handle it, she could not sit on what had happened until then, it would drive her insane. She sighed  
  
Tien jumped as he suddenly sensed her presence. She was standing in the doorway watching him. She would be leaving the following morning. It was near dusk now. He could see her hands shaking as the varying rays of sunset danced across her skin. Her face was a mix of non-expressions, but mostly pain, her eyes showed conflict. He still did not know what drove him to attack Yamcha in such a way, he had later apologised again but it did not explain what had made him do it. He stopped training above to study her, she was watching the sunset, leaning against the frame, her fingers were clenching and unclenching, giving away her awareness of him. He dropped to the ground, placing himself in her line of sight. She regarded him silently.  
  
Miko watched, keeping all her conflicting thoughts and emotions in check, unsure of what to do. Playing him, screwing with his mind, and deriving a sort of security from it as she normally would have did not seem to have a point, when she thought about it, she did not know what she wanted, and therefore could not decide exactly what to do, perhaps this was what scared her more than his erratic behaviour, she had always had that effect on people, and he was just another weak minded guy who would bend to her will. Right?  
  
He stepped closer to her, an inch at a time until she could feel his body heat radiating from him to her and back again. She inhaled sharply; his face gave away the fact that his head was as messed up as her own. Suddenly she got the urge to hit him, and hard, to hurt him for making her feel this way. To knock him over and shred his face, strike away the gentle touch he seemed to possess so naturally, beat him to a bloody pulp so she couldn't bear to look upon him. She realised with a jolt he was struggling with exactly the same thing. Suddenly she stepped close enough so their bodies touched, only just so she could barely feel it. He tensed then froze. She leaned up and kissed him hard, she felt a jolt of shock run through him as her hands found their way to the back of his head  
  
Tien felt the impulse to return her kiss, but before he could react she pulled away. There was silence. She turned to go, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, this was rewarded by a feral growl, he started and released her,  
  
Then, without a word  
  
  
  
She was gone.  
  
*  
  
Gohan grinned as Miko shoved about twenty capsules into her pockets,  
  
"What's in those?" he asked teasingly  
  
"Mostly stuff to do, clothes and a tracking device, if I plan on wandering I'll need a way to get back" Gohan grinned and shrugged  
  
"Ready?" she nodded, he took her fore arm and rose upwards, and she did the same remarkably well. He shot away, his father hot on their heels  
  
Goku grinned, Miko was flying pretty well compared to what Gohan had told him the last time he saw her in the air. As if on cue there was a scream and she fell, he made a here-we-go-again face and caught her arm before Gohan could react, he smiled stupidly to himself, he was still far superior to his son when not powered up, she gasped for breath and shook her head. Lifting her own weight, he held her arm carefully and was surprised to find the hard muscles instead of tender flesh, though still considerably more breakable than any of the Z fighters. She grinned at him as he regulated his speed so she could keep up. The look out approached.  
  
Miko took a deep breath and yelled over the wind force  
  
"I'll be fine on my own now!" her words were whipped away but the saijin caught them and nodded, she increased the energy she was using and propelled herself upwards, none the less she was breathing hard when she landed. Gohan grinned and made the thumbs up, she scowled darkly. He flinched and looked away. She nodded curtly to Piccolo who was waiting by the arched doorway into the palace, the pergola, as she would call it hiding his scowl in darkness  
  
Mr Popo flinched at the waves of whatever the pair of camealians generated bounce back and forth, he knew the others had not picked it up but it made being in the general area very uncomfortable  
  
"This way please" he turned and led them into the depths of the palace. At the end of a long straight corridor there was a thick oak door.  
  
"Here we are"  
  
Miko looked around, she had no idea what was going to happen so made a mental note to just go with the flow. Goku, the unspoken leader of the Z fighters spoke up  
  
"Ok! Who wants to go in with me first?" Miko shrugged to herself, not really caring in the least who she ended up partnered with, Gohan tapped her shoulder  
  
"It might be a good idea if you went in with my dad first; he's a really good trainer, and he's spent the most time in there" she shrugged  
  
"Miko?" Goku asked, she shrugged  
  
"Whatever" He grinned, clapping both hands together in a business like fashion. Mr Popo as she now knew he was called, opened the door  
  
"Step inside please" Miko shouldered her bag and strode into the blinding white  
  
Gohan frowned as his father waved and disappeared inside. Piccolo scowled darkly  
  
"One of them is going to go insane in there" Gohan frowned  
  
"Miko? Nah, she's tougher than she looks" Piccolo scowled  
  
"I didn't say Miko" he thought darkly, wondering just what she would do to the saijin once inside.  
  
Miko glanced around her and strode over to the nearest bed, she dumped her small bag of capsules and turned to Goku who was inspecting the fridge  
  
"They never put enough in here, how are both supposed to stay alive for a year" he said mournfully. Miko raised an eyebrow, she had heard a few stories of the saijin stomach  
  
"Uh Goku?" he turned  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I have my own food" he grinned  
  
"Great! Mr Popo never puts enough in here, me and Gohan nearly starved last time, oh and hey, can you cook?" she shrugged  
  
"Does poison count?"  
  
A large sweat drop made it's way down the side of Goku's head, he laughed nervously  
  
"Ok. Let's get down to business, what do you know?"  
  
*  
  
Gohan shifted restlessly, he was beginning to feel uneasy for some reason. Piccolo and Dende were talking quietly, most likely about the coming threat. He hoped Miko would be ok; the time chamber was a hard place  
  
Tien looked up, sensing a large ki and a small one disappear. He shifted his stance restlessly and charged, finding himself on his back. Chou zu frowned  
  
"You're not concentrating" he nodded  
  
"No, I'm not"  
  
*  
  
Miko flipped back, sweat pouring down her face, Goku charged, sending a ki blast her way she smirked and duck right under him, driving a ki blast of her own in to his gut, he flew up a few feet and flipped away. Miko got o her feet, rubbing her sore knees, Goku grinned  
  
"Well done, you learn fast" she yawned, it had been three weeks, and she had slept little, getting up in the middle of what would have been night to train herself furiously. She smiled at how Goku recognized many of Master Roshi's moves. She pulled out the tracker and began trudging to her left. It had come in handy, as she could not stay in one place too long, wandering in the endless white had been oddly relaxing.  
  
Goku grinned at her retreating back. She had potential to rival a saijin, and her tactics were effective, if rather unorthodox. He charged up to super saijin and began a strenuous routine. He heard a yelp and saw her fall, the gravity had given her hell lately, he shrugged and carried on, she always got up.  
  
Authors note: MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! GOTCHA!!YOU THOUGHT I KILLED HER!!! MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Gotcha gotcha gotcha, did ya cry? tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellme Oh yeah and Miko goes in with Piccolo next...ahem, foul language censored  
  
Chou!  
  
CHAPTER NINE: Training. Insanity-who will crack first?  
  
Miko tapped away at the laptop, thanking the gods she had brought it, she couldn't handle just straight training, and she knew she would go mad if she tried. Goku stuck his head around the curtain, she grinned and closed the programme  
  
"Hungry?" she said teasingly, it had been nearly a month now. Goku practically drooled every time the fridge door was opened, and it was opened a lot. He nodded eagerly, not picking up the sarcasm in her voice. She mentally shrugged and got off the plush mattress  
  
"What are you making?" he was dancing on the spot, rubbing his hands together, his eyes wide, she could see a tiny dribble of drool running down from his lip, she blanched. He blinked  
  
"Are you ok?" he said carefully, she nodded, forcing down the urge to throw up.  
  
Goku went back to training, every now and then Miko cooked, not often and when he asked she normally did something to it to make it taste worse than if he had cooked it. The smell of cooking came to him and he hurried inside. Miko was roasting a whole leg of beef, suspending it in the air with her ki and slowly roasting it with a wide low heat beam, he drooled, she popped a capsule and began to pour some kind of mouth watering sauce over it. He drooled. The smell driving him nuts  
  
Miko smirked as she poured hot chilli sauce on the almost perfect meat. Goku was practically choking himself trying not to swallow it whole. She smirked and turned, taking the leg as big as herself with her, he trotted at her heels like a dog, she rested it on a platter of sort on the small table in what could have been a kitchen had there been anything other than an open hearth fire  
  
"It is done yet?" Goku asked desperately, Miko smirked, slowly slicing a huge lump of meat off, she took a silvery plate and slapped it on, making the juice sizzle and splatter, a little landed on his lip, he licked it away and nearly pounced on the food from the sheer taste of the juices  
  
"Here you go" she handed him the platter  
  
Miko looked away in disgust, he ate worse than Gohan. There was the sound of chewing and appreciation, it was rare that she cooked, only twice had she actually made anything for him. The rest of the time he drooled. Watching her force small amounts into herself, she had never had much of an appetite, and it had suddenly decreased with the presence of the boundlessly hungry saijin. She wrinkled her nose as he finished, she blinked, not just what she had given him but everything on the platter was gone, she mentally shrugged and headed for her bed, she had a capsulised fridge full of ready made average sized meals, though she knew Goku would end up eating half of those as well, after all, it was only hunger that forced her to eat, she could not stomach much anyway  
  
Goku stared as she picked at the large sandwich; she had gotten into the habit of throwing the bits she didn't want straight into his mouth. They had made a training game out of it, she would throw the bits of food and far and as fast as she could and he would chase them down, catching them in his mouth before they hit the white, ground for lack of a better word. She absently tossed a piece of tomato to her left and he pounced after it. She smirked to herself, he didn't know it yet but half the time he had turned into her pet lapdog, apart from the fact she wouldn't let him sit on her lap, she knew how heavy saijins were. The other half of his time he spent training, and trying to train her. She viewed him as a sparring partner, not a trainer. Still cabin fever was what really bothered her, even after a month she felt claustrophobic. Though busying herself with anything that wasn't boring usually did the trick  
  
Miko forced herself to swallow what would have been an eatable meal, it didn't seem very appealing after Goku's episode with the beef though, she had been planning on taking some for herself and storing the rest in the freezer for later but Goku spelt the end of that  
  
Tien frowned, they had been training for an hour and a half now, and he knew Miko would have been through much more, he hoped she would be ok. His lapse in concentration earned him a fist to the face  
  
Goku blinked as her fist brushed by his face, he had barely manage to get out of the way, he kicked her in the ribs sending her skidding back a few feet. He sighed as she flipped up and over, landing on her twisted ankle, she completely ignored what must have been quite a bit of pain and shot forward, he had gone as easy as possible on her to start with but he had found she only twisted this to her advantage, he knew now she fought with skill and strategy, not raw power. Though having his but kicked a lot wasn't a bad thing when you were a saijin. He glanced at the clock as he fielded her much slower attacks, it read two months, it felt like a lot longer, Miko made him restless, she always had something to do, spending a quarter or so of her time typing and reading and Dende knows what else. She sometimes spoke in riddles and her changes of mood were as violent as Vegeta's, he used the time when she rested to train himself, but somehow she knew when he did and would often jump in when he least expected it, it was as if she never slept, and often he would awake to the sound of training, in a female pitch. Once he caught her training and gaped for a full ten minutes before she noticed him  
  
Miko yawned and stretched out, she had stopped training for the "day" and was trying to sleep. This had never worked in the past and was not working now, she often slept only an hour or so a night, and the constricting atmosphere and the fiery weather changes made it infuriatingly impossible to sleep without sheer exhaustion, and since Goku would not provide this she simply worked herself to the brink of death without him  
  
Goku started, a huge spike of ki had jolted him awake, he attuned his senses and wondered who it was. Still half asleep he had not remembered where he was. The sound of female yelling came to his ears, he stepped out of bed curiously and slipped around the curtain with a grace unfamiliar to him.  
  
Miko pulled her raw power out from inside her, all her hatred, all her frustrations, all the insanity encouraging factors of this place. She screamed loud enough to burst her lungs as her body caught fire with the massive uncontrollable burst of ki blasted out from her well-hidden heart. She had hidden it well all the time but this place drove her nuts, but with the violent distractions of training she had kept it at bay, but even she couldn't train forever, and intellectual stimulation was needed, but with all of that she was still on the verge of insanity, she screamed again and felt her throat rip itself to shreds, another wave of ki burst into the heavy air around her, flames erupted from the ground, her tortured yells quieted as an odd calm spread over her. She glanced at her hands, the pale skin had become a bluey green. She gasped and reached up to touch her hair, it being propelled upwards up the force surrounding her. She heard a small noise and swung around to see Goku staring wide eyed at her.  
  
Goku gaped, how had she heard? The movement was so small not even Vegeta would have picked it up. Her face relaxed from the stiff scowl and the ki around her died, she staggered forward then fell to her knees, her eyes went dull for a second then she fell flat on her face with an odd sounding thud.  
  
Miko opened her eyes to find herself on a bed, she sat up blearily and looked around, she felt oddly calm, this surprised her, normally when she awoke the reality of another day's work being alive in her cold hardened existence, life's everyday struggles and a lifetime's worth of pain in a few months came crashing down on her, this time though she felt oddly calm. She shook her head and saw a face poke itself around the curtain  
  
"Oh good you're awake, that was some stunt you pulled, I never knew you had so much power" Miko blinked, thinking hard, nothing came to her  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Goku frowned  
  
"You powered up last night, you took out half the building, you equalled an ascended saijin" she frowned, screwing up her eyes. A few seconds past  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" she said frustrated. Goku frowned  
  
"You passed out when you saw me, it must have knocked your memory out or something, maybe you should sleep a while longer" she nodded laying back and closing her eyes, this surprised him, there was an odd calm to her ki, it being the only one other than himself he had become attuned to it, Now that he thought about it, her ki was normally an ocean of turmoil, beneath the forever level and unchanging small ki there was anger and hatred and sorrow and a million and one other emotions that should have become more apparent much further on. He had spent so long with her that now that he saw the difference he recognized the change. He frowned, could possibly her first power up have caused this. This amazed him, only Piccolo had been able to match and exceed the power of a super saijin without actually being one, strong as the others were they still had a long way to go before they rivalled the huge burst of energy it took to equal the golden fighters of the saijin. He left her sleeping soundly, this also amazed him, in the two months they had been there she rarely slept more than a few hours in every two days and they were restless nightmare torn hours. Yet the actual chamber itself did not seem to bother her in the slightest, she never got frustrated or flipped out as Gohan had done a few times. She did not strike him as one of such iron will. Maybe these things did just not bother her.  
  
Miko got up and yawned, feeling very rested, suddenly a brief vision of a blue hand crossed her eyes, she frowned, it had been too fast to see who's it was. She shrugged, most likely a dream, she told herself. Goku looked up and grinned as she came out in her usual attire of jogging top and track pants. He waved as she rose unsteadily into the air beside him  
  
"Your ki has gone up quite a bit" he told her encouragingly  
  
"I want you to try and power up" she scowled, now he was acting like her trainer, some one hadn't trained her since she was a child  
  
"Why? I've never "powered up" up in my life, I don't even know how" he frowned  
  
"Ok, you know how Tien taught you to....fly. I want you to try and focus all of your energy on one place inside you, like maybe your hand or something, if you try often enough you'll soon be able to distribute it throughout your body evenly" she scowled as he watched her carefully, she shrugged, doing what he said, she found it surprisingly easy, a large blue shining ball forming in her palm  
  
Goku raise both eyebrows, she had learned that quickly enough.  
  
"Ok, now imagine throwing it at me" she smirked and suddenly the ki ball increased in size, it grew to be larger than Miko herself and then the size of the average house, he gaped, where was she getting the energy? All the while her ki stayed at a constant level, something he had noticed from the start, no matter what she did in general training, unless she threw everything she had into something her ki never changed, this led him to believe it was her who was holding back. He blinked as the ki ball was hurled at him, he made ready to block it but found it stop, motionless before him  
  
Miko grinned as he let his guard down. She released her hold and the ball sent him hurtling back until he flipped to the side. He trotted back to her with his jaw dragging behind on the white ground.  
  
*  
  
Miko wiped sweat from her brow, The pair of them stunk real bad, having continued training at a constant furious pace for over two days without sleep, the only stop was for Goku to tank up on food. Miko simply rested while he did this, she hadn't felt real hunger for weeks, she only ate when Goku stared at her as if she were mad when she turned down a plate of food, though she had learned not to trust his cooking as far as she could throw it, which incidentally was a long way so the saying did not make much sense but the author could not think of anything else so bear with me. Goku rose into the air and charged up a ki blast, she rarely used ki, she could but it drained her stores greatly and no amount of training seemed to change this, she got faster and stronger but her ki stayed at much the same level, climbing but not nearly as quickly as anyone else's, she supposed it was just the fact that she was female and this gave everyone else an advantage barring 18 who was made of steel. She pulled up her train of self pity thought and scolded herself, this led to taking the blast full on in the face, she yelped like a wounded dog as it pushed her into the white ground, she drew her knees up and threw her efforts into holding her breath against the burning heat and kicked hard, the beam lifted a few feet and fell back to meet her waiting feet, it melted the soles of her boots, sending pain through the tough skin of her feet.  
  
Goku frowned as the ball barrelled back at him, she should have been able to block that; she was normally completely focused. The girl had more guts and will than Gohan had when he was in here, and that was a lot, in the first few weeks when Miko was bored she had done other things but now when there was only a month to go she had trained non-stop for two days, and showed no signs of stopping. He still never powered up to super saijin for fear of killing her with too much force, she was a girl after all, and but she still gave him a run for his money. He also noted she never held back, going full tilt at a pace he would not have expected from anyone especially after her previous displays of strength. He had a feeling she was more dangerous than she looked. He stopped the ki ball easily and found her sitting on the white ground, frantically tearing at her boots; the soles of which he saw were completely melted. He jumped down and yanked at one, it came to pieces in his hands, she pulled her foot away and began scrabbling at the melted rubber that was clinging to the skin, he began working on the other. it wasn't working, she cursed loudly as his hands touched what was revealed to be charred and bleeding skin, he raised both eyebrows, he had put more power into it than he meant to.  
  
Miko scowled as he swept her off the ground, she tried to kick away but found this caused more pain to the soles of her feet, he shot in the direction of the building and headed straight for the bathroom, he dumped her in the tub and began running the cold water, she yelped as it washed over her soles, setting her nerves ablaze, she fought tears and growled instead. He stood over her as the low water level turned blue with the blood from the soles of her feet.  
  
Goku raised both eyebrows again, she was not crying, no tears sprang to her eyes, this surprised him considerably, any other female he knew would be screaming her head off, and most likely many of the Z fighters, and he had come to believe that crying was the female way of screaming in pain, well most of the time. She scowled at him and growled a little, sounding a lot like Vegeta remarkably, considering the mutual...he couldn't find a word for it. She placed both hands on the edge of the tub and raised herself up, her heels dragging on the bottom; he turned off the water and pulled the plug. She swung her legs over the edge, sending filthy water everywhere, including his boots; she winced as the air touched the bloody soles. He crouched down. Placing a hand below her ankles to prevent her touching the ground, she growled low in her throat but did not resist, he lifted one of the rather small feet and inspected the damage, it was considerable "Well you won't be walking for a while" she swore loudly and he winced, Chichi had once kicked Yamcha out of the house for saying that one, so he knew it was filthy.  
  
Miko scowled as he stood up  
  
"Stay" he said sternly, she scowled, supporting her whole weight on her hands griping the edge of the tub, she rested her rear on the edge and winced as her weight pressed the narrow ledge into her tail bone. Goku returned with a strip of what could have been bandage had it not been soaked in a green liquid, Miko raised an eyebrow as he knelt back down to come to eye level with the soles of her feet  
  
"Now this might hurt a bit, just don't move" she scowled but nodded, her grip tightening on the edge of the tub, it groaned and gave way under her fingers, he grinned and gently lay the cloth over the top of her left foot, noticing how small it was compared to his hand, yet it did not look out of place on her leg; it simply surprised him for one so strong. He slowly and carefully wrapped the soaked cloth around her feet, she flinched but kept her mouth firmly shut. This too surprised him; until they had begun training she had not struck him as one with iron nerves. He mentally shrugged and wrapped the right foot a little faster as he was now sure she would not move.  
  
Miko was inwardly screaming as he finished wrapping  
  
"It should heal in a few days" he said reassuringly  
  
"When is it going to stop stinging?" she said calmly, he blinked, most likely wondering why she wasn't yelling her head off. He thought for a second  
  
"Depends on the damage, but it's a good thing if it stings, it means the damage isn't too bad" she smirked  
  
"It can't have gone deeper than the nerves then, otherwise I would be walking now" he frowned  
  
"How's that?"  
  
"Well when something burns deeper than your nerves you can't feel it anymore, but that doesn't stop the nerves around going nuts, it has to burn through most of your skin before it does though" he shrugged and laughed  
  
"Whatever then" he bent and lifted her off the edge. She scowled and shoved away, cursing his strength so far superior to hers.  
  
Goku held on carefully, fearing he would drop her, she wasn't helping herself by struggling, he sighed and placed her on the bed she had chosen, she scowled and cursed again. Goku winced, thinking of the vocabulary she wielded, wondering how Chichi would react if such words were said around either Gohan or Goten, though Gohan was seventeen now and fully able to make his own decisions, he was eighteen actually but the half year spent in the time chamber did not count in Chichi's books. He flinched as she swore again, he sighed and slipped around the curtain, leaving her to amuse herself. He would get some super saijin training done now.  
  
Miko sighed and pulled her laptop onto her lap and began typing, she wrinkled her nose, knowing she stank with a vengeance, but this did not seem to matter, Goku always managed to smell like an overworked carthorse no matter how many times she ordered him to take a bath. She still bathed, she had that much of her sanity left, but only in between training and if she couldn't walk without Goku's help she would wave it for her dignity's sake.  
  
Gohan glanced at his watch, only ten minutes left to go. he was unsure as to who he was more worried about; Miko or his father, Piccolo's words had unnerved him.  
  
Tien shifted in his seat, he could not eat, however his stomach begged, he was worried. About Miko, and what she would do to Goku, he had been slowly learning just how deadly she really was, he could never be sure if anything she said was genuine. He figured that either a pair of insane wrecks or one insane wreck or two much stronger fighters would be exiting the hyperbolic time chamber  
  
Miko sat up suddenly, they had three days left. She smiled with relief, the pressure had been driving the last of her hold on sanity away, it was hard, so very hard. She breathed a sigh and was suddenly hit with a huge jolt of hunger, she groaned, the last three months of eating little to nothing were catching up on her. She swung her legs off the bed and padded along the curtain and slipped through the opening. The kitchen was quiet and still, the sound of heavy snores emitted from Goku's corner. Miko scowled murderously, that was one thing she had not been able to get used to, simply adapting to sleeping only an hour and often none at all, their training had slowed down again in the last weeks, up until then, once she could walk again Goku had kept up with her insane regime easily enough, she scowled, knowing in an all out battle where the point was to win rather than get stronger she would be the easy victor. She had gotten to know him well over the last six months, she had held off insanity with her acting skills alone, pushing it down with the rest of her past, the rest of her various forms of madness she had collected over the years, a few times she had nearly bolted for the door but saved herself only by sheer will. She smirked to herself, Goku had not noticed but it was almost impossible to spend six months alone with some one and not get to know them extremely well, yet he knew nothing about her, the thing about her was that she had no set habits, no specific dislikes beside general stuff that anyone could have and would be "abnormal" without. This proved how good her acting really was; in the time chamber there were no breaks from your partner's company and no vacations. She wondered if she would fare better with Gohan or Piccolo, she doubted it, Goku was among the kindest men she had ever met, and most of them were among the Z fighters, Dr Brief was another, he seemed to be the one in the background and she had observed him carefully, she thought back to her many spur of the moment conversations with him  
  
"Thinking?" Miko spun around to face a Bulma's hair and eyes, set in a wizened male face. She released her breath and nodded  
  
"It's a lot to take in" he said softly, seating himself next to her. She sighed and nodded, downing her third vodka and pouring another  
  
"Want one?" he smiled and nodded, she poured him a drink proportionate to his size  
  
"You're rather skilled with a bottle, cocktail mixer?" she smiled and shook her head  
  
"No just spent a lot of time in bars in my time before Sheme" he smiled, somehow setting her at ease  
  
"I think we all have at one least low point in our lives" he said, still smiling warmly, somehow giving her more comfort than the glass in her hands  
  
"Yeah well, I haven't got that excuse, I brought it on myself"  
  
"Brought what? If you don't mind my asking" she took a deep breath  
  
"All the trouble in my life, I've been in bar fights, riots, arrested many, many times, attacked, diagnosed with god knows how many forms of mental illness and some how managed to keep all of it out of Sheme's life. I'm a magnet for trouble" he smiled and patted her arm  
  
"I must say, you are a top rate actress" she grinned, somehow not startled by his uncanny perception of her  
  
"So you noticed, you seem to be the only one,"  
  
"You must have been at it a while to be so natural, but you aren't acting now are you?" Miko was suddenly struck by the perceptiveness of those eyes, far sharper than Bulma's, yet so gentle  
  
"How can you be so sure" she said softly, swallowing the fourth vodka in a gulp, switching now to whisky  
  
"You have strange eyes, there is a wall between the outside and your soul, it can be covered but it's always there, some people prefer to focus on the pretty covering, while a handful of others like to know if the wall is there, it isn't right now, though if you feel at all threatened by me it will go up soon enough" Miko jumped, he had phrased it so perfectly. She was unsure how to not act. Even when she was truthful she always thought for a split second about all the different ways of saying it and how it would cause things to happen  
  
"You're rather perceptive for one who seems so bumbling" she said shrewdly. He smiled and nodded  
  
"That is my wall I suppose, though it is not as impenetrable as yours, I can see the wall, but not what's behind it" She sighed  
  
"I don't think there is much behind it, I've been this way for so long I don't know what to be, or who I am, I guess sometimes I just forget to think about stuff and then I act naturally but as soon as it hits me I forget, I suppose it's a control thing really, I calculate so as to get exactly the result I want, more what I need really. It has never failed in any situation, I somehow know how any person will react to any given thing" He nodded  
  
"I am like that, but I am not the actor you are. Tell me, how old are you?" she shrugged  
  
"Depends what I want from you in the end, if you have something to do with Sheme I am twenty one, if you're the cops about being in a bar I'm eighteen, if you're some jerk I'm sixteen, if you're a clerk for someplace with price reductions I'm fifteen, if you're a Z fighter I'm seventeen"  
  
"What if I'm an old man who is rather nosy and would like to know" she giggled a little  
  
"I'm eighteen, nineteen in two months" she did not mention the fact that she was more than bending the truth  
  
"Well, you give the impression of an adult to be honest"  
  
"People tell me I do, I guess its life experience rather than chronological age"  
  
"I think it's more to do with wisdom, and after all, you are as old as you feel" she grinned  
  
"I can't place an age one you to be honest, you are obviously very wily yet very wise, but you are young at heart" he smiled warmly, again sending a welcoming feeling all through Miko, such as she had not felt in a long time  
  
"You make a good grandfather"  
  
"Trunks and I share our secrets. Grand parents and grand children always have their own fairy land, it comes of being either before the point of sensibility or past it" Miko laughed quietly, swallowing more whisky  
  
"Maybe you should stop" he said, removing the glass from her hand, she nodded, wondering whether this was a trick, yet she couldn't help but trust the old man  
  
"You're an old soul, you'll survive" he said quietly. She smiled and he seemingly melted into the background again, she blinked, realising how he had somehow extracted some of her most closely guarded information without volunteering any of his own. She cursed herself, thinking it had been some kind of ploy set up to trap her by the Z fighters, clever bastard, she scolded herself. Bulma re-entered. She inspected her face carefully. She knew nothing new, Miko had a way of reading people. The man she guessed was Bulma's father and was now sure of was even better than herself, it had been anew experience  
  
Miko smiled, she had had many conversations such as this at odd moments. The old man had become an instant friend. She envied him in some ways, he had achieved everything she had yet still was happy, she told herself she was happy but knew it was simply the lurking madness she interpreted as happiness that rested within her. She opened the fridge, she didn't want to decapsulise the last of her food; it would wake up Goku, destroying her peace. There was always an odd light about the place, giving no darkness. She knew it was this over all that drove her nuts, it was the darkness of outside that she missed most, the calm and still of peaceful black, this was why she always loved the dark, lurking like a wild thing in dingy alleys, scaring hardened urchins and muggers and other such people with her eyes and wild looks, she would skulk around the cops caught her and dragged her back to her home, but not after a trip to the hospital for mainly self inflicted injuries. She was in a remembering mood at the moment as she munched her way through a Goku sized meal, she guessed this would be an all night-er, at least it was an escape from the claustrophobic reality of the time chamber  
  
"What are you?" the man breathed, shock and fear spreading like blood over his face, Miko growled low in her throat and glanced down at her torn shirt, it was ripped from the shoulder down to reveal half her collar bone, she scowled murderously and advanced, the man waved the knife at her, she lunged forward and caught it in her teeth, blood dribbled down her chin from her lip, she spat the knife into her hand and licked at it hungrily, the man yelped and skidded away. Miko smirked and snapped the knife, she scooped up the wallet and inspected it, finding nothing but funless green stuff she shredded it with the pointed end of the knife, there was a wail of sirens and suddenly a bright light blinded her, she sprang away, baring her teeth. There were shouts and two figures in blue jumped out of the hulking shape of the wailing beast. Miko growled low in her throat from her position hanging from the fire escape by one hand, her feet against the dirty brick. This was the run down part of town. One looked up and pointed, yelling something. She sprang away, moving like an insect, springing from side to side of the alley, landing on the hard roof of what people called "kar" she beat at it with her fists, leaving large dents, for blinding her. There were yells and noises of wonder as the roof gave way. She smirked evilly and jumped away. Landing in the middle of the road. There was the screeching of brakes and suddenly she was jerked off the ground, she glanced up and saw a teenage boy, the ground was far below, she growled and slashed with her teeth, he looked down in surprise, his spiky hair contrasting against his orange clothes, she scowled and struggle, his grip did not loosen  
  
"Don't worry, you're safe now" she understood the words but was too worked up to care. He shrugged and suddenly there was a thud, he set her on her feet and smiled, she found his smiled to be oddly calming, he offered his hand, she took it uncertainly and slowly returned his smile, the muscles in her face complained loudly at the unfamiliar use but she did not care  
  
"You ok?" he asked, she was unsure how to answer, she understood basic speech but speaking it was another story, she moved her lips but nothing came out  
  
"T-fank oooh" she tried the words on her tongue, they didn't fit but he grinned and waved, taking off into the air, Miko tried to jumped after him but he was already gone, unfortunately they had landed on a building, she fell three storeys at terrifying speed before the caught hold of a ledge, the force of her fall causing her arm to snap out of it's socket. She had screamed for half an hour before some one found her and pulled her inside.  
  
Miko thought of the kindly old man who had helped her, then betrayed her, or so it had felt to her five year old mind, she had actually been highly intelligent, but her wild nature had slowed it's manifestation in normal ways, she became a strategist, knowing what people would do instinctively. She smiled again, her stomach still protested at its emptiness, so she began to fill it again  
  
"Well hello there" The old man with twinkling eyes and wrinkly skin. Miko growled defensively as he offered his hand, he took her collar and pulled her inside the window, she growled and yelled the whole way. He was quite strong for an old man really. Once inside her set her in a big chair, she suddenly felt calm again, despite the pain in her shoulder and fore arm, she wriggled back a little, liking the warmth and smell of the cushions and soft coverings, she felt herself falling asleep. There was a soft sound of amazement as she curled herself into a ball, her tangled green hair covering her dislocated and broken shoulder. When she awoke the old man was watching her a few feet away, she growled defensively, not willing to give up her new perch  
  
"Now I wonder where you come from little one" he said softly, Miko immediately began to purr as the wild cat she had befriended had taught her. This was her only way of showing she was at ease; words were a rare thing from her. The old man reached out a hand to touch her shoulder, she immediately tensed and stopped purring abruptly, but relaxed as he rested his hand on her head, it was oddly comforting. She began to purr quietly again, she did not purr with her tongue as most humans did, but with her throat, somehow she was more in tune with animals than humans  
  
"Well you certainly are a strange one, you're like a stray cat, and you act like one too" he stroked her hair as one would the ears of a friendly but temperamental cat, one with claws and a taste for flesh. Miko slowly got up, the pain in her arm forcing her to walk completely upright, which she was not used to. She blinked at the false light coming from the centre of the roof as she wandered around, he disappeared for a minute, leaving her to inspect things and break one of them and returned with food, the smell brought her running to his feet, he laughed softly and handed her the round thing, she took and sniffed at it, she frowned but stuffed it in her mouth anyway. He smiled and got her a few more, she swallowed three and then refused a fourth. He sat her in the chair and gave her a glass of milk, she knew how to use a glass and gulped it down, he offered her more and was soon down to water, this did not bother her animal like mind, it quenched her thirst and that was enough for her, The smiling old man placed a blanket as she yawned widely, showing sharpened teeth from years of chewing stuff that wasn't meant to be chewed. She fell asleep within minutes. She opened her eyes to sunlight, she blinked a few times and was surprised to see a strange face, it was not the old man, he was standing a few feet back, the face was attached to a body, dressed in blue, she sprang straight up in the air, landing on her back, and jumping across the room, there were gasps and yells, she swung around, a man in blue was slowly approaching, she growled aggressively and scowled in the direction of the old man, he was talking to the man still approaching, she saw something in his hand, it was black and bigger than her fist, a sudden flash of fear, she remembered what those things did. They hit stuff, she jumped away jarring her shoulder on impact, she yelped in pain and suddenly the hands attached to the first face she saw closed around her, she growled and yelled, struggling with a vengeance. The old man began talking, this distracted her long enough for the man in blue to take both her arms, she screamed and the hands let go  
  
"Look at her arm" it was the old man who spoke, she scowled, backing away, nearly tripping over a low table and bumping into various objects in the small apartment room  
  
"Dislocated I'd say, how're we supposed to subdue her, you said she didn't seem able to speak"  
  
"That's right, she acted like cat, purrs and everything" there was a low whistle and the rustle of paper  
  
"Looks a bit like her"  
  
"She's so filthy you wouldn't be able to tell, and she's older"  
  
"Yeah but they said it's not a recent picture"  
  
"Well whatever the case we have to take her in anyway, we can't cuff a minor unless she's committed a crime and she can't be older than five for Christ's sake. Besides, it'll hurt her if you grab her arm again, man she moves like a monkey"  
  
"Spider man would be the word I'd use"  
  
"It fits alright, so how are we gonna get her to cooperate, Mr Johsa, you said she's pretty calm with you"  
  
"Err, well she was alright until she saw you, I suppose she's familiar with the police"  
  
"Maybe if you came with us, we'll need a written statement anyway" the old man nodded and turned back to Miko.  
  
"It's alright little one" he said slowly, Miko immediately felt the urge to purr, she liked this man, but she was afraid of what letting her guard down with the people in blue would mean. She had learned not to trust people in blue; they were not friendly like the old man. He offered his and she stared suspiciously at it  
  
"It's alright, I won't hurt you little one" he said quietly, she shifted her injured arm painfully so it sat out of the way more. He took another step towards her, she considered for a moment, then reached out with her fingers and touched his palm, and he slowly closed his fingers and hers. She glanced nervously at the people in blue, they had not moved, she moved closer to the old man, using him as a shield, there was another low whistle, causing her ears to prick up, she had amazing control over her ears, she could twitch them and move them for better hearing. The man gently pulled her towards the door, she heard footsteps behind them and half spun around to face the two in blue, they backed away immediately. She scowled and pulled the old man closer, he squeezed her hand gently and led her out into a corridor  
  
"I think the stairs would be a better option to the elevator, I doubt she would like the closed in space" the people in blue walked a few steps back. Suddenly a door opened and a large woman stepped out  
  
"What on earth is going on!" she yelled, Miko jumped, swinging herself onto the old man's shoulders, he nearly fell over with her weight, she was not heavy but the force of her leap took him by surprise, she leaned over his head, placing her good hand on his shoulder and snarling at the woman, the woman in blue was talking to the big woman, Miko snarled and growled louder, curling her lip back to reveal her teeth, the action caused the half healed cut in the corner of her mouth to open up and a little blue blood to dribble from it, she licked at it quickly, knowing it cause people to scream and make loud noises. The woman closed the door but Miko heard voices saying long words she did not understand on the other side. She jumped down and backed up against the old man's leg, he patted her head softly and that odd sense of calm came over her once more. She took her hand and led her to a staircase, she was not used to stairs, simply climbing straight down the stairwells. She uncertainly stepped down. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get her down the three flights of stairs. Outside on the side of the road was another beast, just like the one she had dented, she growled and shrieked, jumped back, knocking the man in blue off his feet, she back against the wall, undecided as where to go in the morning street, it was full of people, a small crowd gathered, pointing and making noises, she snarled and bared her teeth, her lip stung but did not bleed. The pointing people backed away and the old man pushed through the crowd followed by the people in blue. No matter what was said or offered she would not be convinced to get in the beast, afraid it would eat her. In the end the old man actually carried her, she did not fight him, she was afraid to hurt him, she knew she was much stronger than most people. He set her on his lap as the vehicle shuddered into life, Miko sprang all over the place, unable to find a way out without the use of both arms, she eventually settled for trembling, curled into a defensive ball against a door. The short trip set her in edge. When the door opened she leapt out, past the woman in blue and sat crouched in the middle of the pavement before a large white building she recognised from past visits. The old man led her inside to bustle. Suddenly she saw her father and backed away, peeling her lips back to bare her teeth. He began speaking to the woman in blue  
  
"So she is the one"  
  
"Yes officer, wild thing"  
  
"You're sure"  
  
"Definitely, the hair alone is enough, no other child has it naturally"  
  
"I wondered about that. It seems she has a dislocated shoulder, so she'll need to get sorted out and we'll head down to the station and get the missing persons report sorted out, how long has she been missing"  
  
"Two days, this is not a rare occurrence, you see she's been like this since age one, wild thing"  
  
"Considered a hearing difficulty?"  
  
"Oh she can hear fine, besides she's downright vicious. She can actually hear things we can't, knows when the mailman is three blocks away, we had her hearing tested, she ripped the headphones to shreds first sound, too loud, she doesn't like loud noises anyway"  
  
"I see, here comes the nurse" a woman in white approached her father and smiled  
  
"Back again? What's she done this time?"  
  
"Dislocated shoulder they reckon, can't think how she did it"  
  
"Fell off a building and caught a ledge, Mr Johsa pulled her in and called us, she went straight to sleep in his apartment"  
  
"Well that's a new one, she normally trusts no one, even her mother, and she barely sleeps at all"  
  
"Well she seems to trust him, went nuts when she saw us, and yet she let him take her right into the car"  
  
"You got her in a car?" her father's eyes widened  
  
"Not us, Mr Johsa she, went nuts, nearly broke my arm"  
  
"She's unusually strong, like a modern Mowgli"  
  
"That would explain the way she moves" it was a three way conversation between the nurse, her father and the woman in blue. Miko clung to the old man, suddenly she spotted her mother and leapt at her, sending pain shooting through her arm and shoulder in the process but she did not care. She pounced on her, immediately purring and snuggling into a ball on her laps, there seemed to be less and less room there these days, but she did not care, a hand stroked the back of her neck as she closed her eyes, she heard voices above her, she listened sleepily, sitting like this always made her sleepy, no matter how much sleep she had had  
  
"That's a fine girl you have there"  
  
"She down right wild"  
  
"There's nothing wrong, she's just different"  
  
"You're the first person besides my self and my husband she hasn't either attacked or run away from"  
  
"She didn't seem too pleased to see her father"  
  
"She's annoyed with him at the moment"  
  
"Feisty little thing"  
  
"She's just defensive, she's intelligent yet she hardly speaks, we've had psychologists access her and they can't work it out"  
  
"Is there any history of such things in the family?"  
  
"She was adopted at a month old"  
  
"That explains a lot, like the difference in colouring" the hands stopped stroking her neck, she complained with a whining growl. the hand resumed it's former occupation, she fell asleep to the sound of two voices she trusted  
  
Miko sighed sadly, her stomach was still complaining, she had a feeling her trip down memory lane was far from over.  
  
Goku heard the sound of eating and blinked, he figured it was Miko; she hardly seemed to eat anything. He supposed it was finally catching up with her. He shrugged and went back to sleep, his own stomach pleasantly full  
  
Miko sighed sadly, making a note to ask Tien out if she managed to keep her sanity, she blinked, wondering where that had come from. She frowned and shook her head. She screwed up her face, it had been three years since she had had a boyfriend, and she did not miss it. It was just a whole new way of acting to her, and since she really didn't want anything out of a relationship of that kind it made no sense to have one. She shook her head, telling herself she was just lonely and Tien had been the person she got on best with, She scolded herself and suddenly remembered what happened next  
  
Miko scowled and flinched as the nurse touched her arm  
  
"This might hurt sweetie" she scowled and pulled away, her mother held onto her hand. There was a sharp sudden pain, causing her to scream, she closed her fingers around her mothers hand and immediately released them at the gasp of pain in her ear. She looked with worry at her mother, who was rubbing her hand. Miko frowned, she did not know how to say sorry, she knew she felt bad because her mother was hurt and she was the one who had done it, but she did not know how to make it better, her mother looked up and smiled at her expression  
  
"It's ok honey, don't worry, I'm ok, the nurse is gonna set your arm now, so be brave ok" Miko winced but nodded, taking the next burst of pain without a sound. Miko scowled at the sling around her neck, she yelped as the brush pulled at her hair, she allowed her mother to finish though, leaving the shiny oily curtain to hang about her knees. The old man was at her left and her mother sitting behind her, she sat cross legged on a bed while they did the routine she was familiar with, they would check her over for the millions of other little injuries, and then they would clean her up and give her something to eat, which she would not touch, and then they made her stand on some weird platform and wrote down the little black shapes on something and then a woman she did not like would come and talk to her parents about her, Miko always knew when people were talking about her, she didn't know how she just knew. The old man talked to her  
  
"What's you name little one?" he asked as the woman she did not like left the room  
  
"M...m-ee...koow" she choked on the words, her frustration at not being able to say them clouding her sense. She did not speak because her tongue would not respond to her vehement commands, she did not think in words because she did not use them, she thought in visions and emotions. She knew she liked the old man and told him so by purring whenever he was around  
  
"You're a strange one Miko" she smiled as he got her name right. Not realising he knew it from her mother, he simply was getting her to speak  
  
Miko's parents took her home the next day; her arm was almost healed. As usual the doctors were surprised at how fast it healed, it took another week but was good as new soon enough.  
  
"Miko! Come here" Miko growled at her mother, springing away  
  
"Come here now" she stopped for a second, something clicking in her mind  
  
"Haa-ear?" she experimented. Frowning in concentration. He mother suddenly smiled, taking a step towards her  
  
"Here" she repeated clearly, pointing to the floor in front of her. Miko thought for a second  
  
"Heeer?"  
  
"Here"  
  
"Here?" her mother clapped her hands  
  
"That's right sweetie, here" Miko grinned, it was the first time she had gotten any word right  
  
It had been a weird experience, she had learned how quickly and bluntly she could speak fairly quickly, and all it's uses  
  
"How old are you?" the woman asked. Miko scowled  
  
"Don't know" she grunted. The woman frowned  
  
"Surely you must, you've been able to understand speech for a lot longer than you have been able to speak it" she went to tap the tip of her nose but received a sharp slash of teeth, she yelped and pulled back. Miko scowled  
  
"Don't" she said bluntly. The woman smiled in a way that made Miko edgy, her mother held her hand carefully, Miko moved closer to her  
  
"How old do you think you are honey?" her mother asked. Miko frowned  
  
"10?" the woman laughed in a high pitch that made Miko's ears hurt  
  
"Don't" she repeated. The woman stopped  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It hurts" Miko told her annoyedly, rubbing her ears  
  
"Oh, you are six years old" Miko frowned  
  
"So?"  
  
Miko frowned a little, she remembered visiting Mr Johsa a lot, still known to her as the old man, she saw him every few months, usually to bring him some present to help him. He had died two years ago, almost on the same day her parents had died. He had stuck by her as a friend, he had been around a lot after her parents' death  
  
Miko stood with her back straight and her face set in a mask of expressionless nothing. A hand touched her shoulder, she turned to see the old man, he smiled sadly  
  
"They were good people" he told her, she nodded, Sheme tugged on her skirt  
  
"Sheme, can you go help the people with the flowers?" he nodded, wet trails still visible on his cheeks, he ran off to the crowd of people by the small church  
  
"They loved us both" she said softly. He nodded  
  
"You know Miko, from the moment I met you, I knew you were special" he said quietly, Miko nodded a little, not even smiling  
  
"Wild would be the word most would use"  
  
"Well you may not remember it but you claimed my favourite chair for your own and would not give it up. You curled up and went straight to sleep, you were just like a little stray cat, ruffled hair and all" his hand stroked her long hair hanging loose to her waist, Miko sighed  
  
"I remember, and you gave me three cookies, and four glasses of milk and five of water" he smiled and nodded  
  
"And you slept three hours"  
  
"Four, if you don't count before I had something to eat"  
  
"You were aware at the time you know, you just couldn't speak well"  
  
"I could say a few words, but I hated talking because I couldn't do it properly"  
  
"You always were a perfectionist" Miko managed a weak smile  
  
"You know you were always my best friend, Sheme loves you too"  
  
"You would be the closest thing I have to a grand daughter little one" Miko turned and hugged him carefully  
  
"Thanks" she said softly, he smiled and patter her shoulder  
  
"You'll be fine, I'll be here"  
  
"Just don't go dying on me, I'll kill you if you dare" He smiled; sharing the private joke they had had for a long time. Miko looked out across the harbour of the little seaside village they lived in.  
  
"You know, your mother once told me you were the smartest little thing around" he told her. Miko nodded  
  
"I always was the different one. I'm going to raise Sheme, I don't care if I'm underage, no one else knows that" he nodded  
  
"I knew you would, I'll help where I can, just be careful little one" she nodded, turning back to the church.  
  
Miko sighed sadly, it had been one of the worst days of her life, she had wished every day of her life she had treated her parents better. The way they had deserved. It was too late now, she blinked to find a single tears fall from her eyes. She decided she would spend her six hours of freedom before returning to this constricting place at her parents' final resting place. Suddenly she heard footsteps; Goku stuck his head around the door  
  
"You ok?" he asked sleepily, she nodded  
  
"Just hungry" he grinned, Miko stood, leaving her empty plates on the table, she yawned, sleep claiming her eyes  
  
"I'm going to bed" she left the room at a fast pace  
  
Goku blinked, wondering what he had missed, there was something strange about her manner. He shrugged and devoured the unfinished pile of food. He supposed she had left it for him, who else would she make it for?  
  
Authors note: Well, I'm unsure as to where to take this so bear with me ok?  
  
CHAPTER TEN: Time. Alone. Free.  
  
Miko shifted restlessly, a day to go, she spent it humming crazily to herself. Only by her acting skills had she warded off such insane signs of cabin fever, such as talking to inanimate objects and dancing around the room singing Christmas carols. She smiled to herself, thinking of all the little treasure's she had found in Goku's mind, he had a deep emotional intellect, but it made him all the more fun to toy with. She blinked, wondering just where she had got such a devilishly evil streak. She shook her head with a tinge of insanity, and lay back, three hours to go.  
  
Gohan began to count down the seconds. Ten, nine, he prayed his father was alright, seven, six, he hoped Miko was ok, she seemed very breakable when you knew her for a while, three, two. He held his breath.  
  
Miko staggered out and sucked greedily at the air. Her first instinct was to throw herself over the edge, just to feel the wind rushing past her, strong signs. She fought down the madness. Goku grinned at her and waved to Piccolo, who she found would be going in next. She sat down on the ledge, enjoying the warmth of the mid day sun  
  
Tien looked up, sensing to two powers come back to life. He breathed a sigh of relief; they were both alive. He wondered whether it would be a good idea or not to go up and see how she was doing. He decided against I and resumed his intense training.  
  
As she had planned Miko strolled to the edge of the lookout, completely forgetting Tien's "request" for her not to fly alone. She rose into the air, feeling her aches and pains that could not heal as quickly as the saijins could. She glided down. Not particularly noticing her forever-level ki was much higher. She shrugged to herself and blasted away, testing her speed. Unfortunately she was still not a pro at controlling her energy and flew into a few mountains. In the whole month and a half she had known the Z fighters if you didn't count the hyperbolic time chamber she had single- handedly reshaped the landscape, it amazed her how few scars she had though, most were from old times and could be covered with make up, and cuts and grazes from training never ever left a scar. She smiled at her speed and turned quickly to head west, it took her upwards to half an hour to get the hang of flying once she took off, no matter how many times she had done it, and this was no exception. She landed three more times than she took off for real.  
  
Tien felt the tiniest flicker of life force somewhere to the west, it was not large but burned with an intensity that could belong to only one person. He blinked a few times, remembering more than one occasion she had touched his heart, then drove a long claw into it, screwed with his head, pulled his soul to pieces with a thread of her silken shoulder length hair. Suddenly thoughts of holding her, knowing who she really was, understanding her heart, how her mind worked, holding her against him, making her heart his own, stroking her beautiful hair, kissing her tender lips, feeling her whisper in his ear, and whispering back, feeling her cheek against his own. He jumped, wondering where that had come from. He shook his head, ever since he had had the sudden surge of knowing all was not well with Miko he had been acting weird, he had a feeling she was as messed up as him, she just didn't show it. She was good but he knew in his heart she was not a cruel person, it was buried even than his suspicions of her motives  
  
Miko placed the single rose on the ground before two graves in the little seaside cemetery. She smiled sadly and sat down. For the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to cry.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN: The demon king-The deception queen  
  
Gohan shifted restlessly, he was getting worried, it had been five hours and Miko was not back yet. He munched his way through the mammoth meal Mr Popo had made for him. He couldn't her energy anywhere, but that was not surprising, Miko was notorious for somehow managing to be impossible to find, not that she knew how to push her ki down, it was just she somehow managed to blend in, unless one had been near to her in when her emotions were running high you never could get a fix on her ki. Ki was linked directly to emotions. And a persons ki fluctuated with every emotion they had, at least the more powerful ones. Yet Miko's ki was entirely different, she could appear petrified and yet her ki stayed the same, it never altered even when she was fighting. He glanced at the door, shivering slightly against the cold night air. He suspected this was what had led his mentor to sit him down and give him the most serious lecture of his whole life  
  
"Gohan. I need you to know something"  
  
"Umm, whatever it is, I didn't do it"  
  
"No, it's about Miko" Gohan frowned  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"Gohan, I know you like her, but she can't be trusted" Gohan frowned deeper  
  
"Huh? What do you mean Piccolo? I know she's a bit aggressive sometimes but most women seem-"  
  
"Gohan you aren't listening. Listen, I understand, yes she is pretty, yes she is likeable once you think you get to know her but don't act on it! Trust me, she is not to be trusted, not under any circumstance, you need to be wary of her" Gohan smiled  
  
"You don't mean because of all the weird things that have happened, but Piccolo's she's not human, and I mean what saijins can do is just as stran- "  
  
"Gohan! You-are-not-listening-to-me I know how you feel, she is pretty yes, and she knows how to seduce a man, that is for certain, but I guarantee, I guarantee, she is not sincere, you cannot trust her. Do not trust her" Gohan stared at his mentor's face, his voice was urgent and worried, he blinked a few times  
  
"Why can't I trust her?" he asked confusedly, not liking the fact his teacher had picked up his attraction to Miko so easily, it was not that obvious was it? He was confused as to what to do; he was drawn strongly to Miko for reasons he could not fathom, but at the same time, there was Videl. Gods, Videl, what would he do, they were not together, but deep down he liked her as much as Miko  
  
"Gohan, there are things about Miko that none of us can predict, I can sense it about her when she gets going, she's friendly and likeable sure but haven't you noticed strange things about her? Little things. Haven't you seen the way Dende acts around her, we can't afford to trust her. We have no idea what her motives are. I need you to trust me on this one" Gohan opened his mouth to question further but closed it  
  
"Ok Piccolo, I'll be careful around her" Piccolo nodded and smiled, a rare occurrence  
  
"You're smart Gohan, and normally I would say to trust your instincts, but she has a very dangerous way of fooling anyone's instincts" Gohan grinned back as his mentor ruffled his hair  
  
"And don't forget, you have a certain world champion's daughter to think about" he said smugly. Gohan gaped, how had he known?  
  
Miko sniffed and sighed, she felt strangely calm, she had not felt this way in a while. All the while she lived her miserable, evil, horrible, tortured life she had always had a churning sea of emotion so well hidden she actually forgot about it most of the time. She suddenly gasped, she had been sitting on the cliff's edge for over three hours, wailing to high heaven. She threw herself off the edge, kicking off with her feet against the sandy stone.  
  
Gohan smiled as he sensed Miko approach, she would arrive in roughly ten minutes. He frowned, she was flying rather fast from what he had come to know, and the fact she was flying unaided at all surprised him.  
  
Miko landed like a cat, bending her knees to take the impact, she was tire now, her muscles bitched at her for a while until she sat own a few metres away from Gohan, bent over, staring at her knees, he hair hiding her face from view. She stayed motionless for the next fifteen minutes as Gohan stared warily at her, he had not forgotten what his father had told him. She looked rather dirty and as though she had just flown through more than one rainstorm. He heard footsteps as his father and Piccolo walked up behind him, he could sense the increase in power coming from both of the. He also noted how Piccolo's eyes trained immediately on Miko, both narrowed with suspicion. She did not move. Either unaware of their presence or just plain ignoring them. He cold not tell.  
  
Goku watched Miko carefully, every once in a while something strange would come over her, like she would sink into a trance, or just stop being aware, he could not tell if this was the case at this point. She was a strange one, she really was. He supposed the huge amounts of stress she had been through did a lot to mess a person up, especially a girl. Ad if haring his thoughts she looked up sharply, her eyes sliced into him, he took a step back, what he saw in her eyes scared him more than any threat to earth ever could. He blinked, it was gone. He smiled nervously as she stared at him, puzzlement on her face, so genuine....yet he couldn't shake the feeling of unease abut what he had seen in her eyes.  
  
Piccolo narrowed his eyes. Miko was not looking at him but something told him her senses were indeed trained on him rather than Goku. He wondered how he knew. He shrugged to himself  
  
"Who's next" he rumbled in his deep voice  
  
Miko stood up, wondering how long she could the insane urge to turn and run right over the edge, to feel the wind. She mentally slapped herself, it mentally hurt, her overindulgent mind screamed blasphemy at the scolding she gave it. She turned to face the green man, he towered above her, and the fact she was on the lower step that led into the made her feel even smaller, she did not feel she had the strength to stand up to his over bearing personality.  
  
"I'll go" she said evenly, knowing her eyes were shot with blue, though her face was washed clean from flying through storm clouds. He smirked and turned, with a swishing movement of his cloak. She took a deep steadying breath, stimulating her new "scared" persona and followed him.  
  
Gohan watched careful, taking in her body language, there had been a tiny shift that went from tired to tense and scared, it was so small, and it was just as real as any other person but with Piccolo's lecture he had taken to thinking carefully about her actions, piecing the puzzle together. He frowned a grinned as his father sat down next to him  
  
"How'd it go?" he asked, the older saijin grinned goofily  
  
"She's a really good cook"  
  
Miko looked about her with a growing sense of claustrophobia welling up inside her chest, she forced it down, covering it with anger. She went to the bed she was still painfully familiar with to find none of her stuff had been moved. The green man was watching her  
  
"You ready?" he asked, she knew what was coming, she shrugged and nodded, physical pain was better than mental stress  
  
"Bring it on" she challenged  
  
Authors note: Ok so I didn't take it anywhere in particular this chapter but I'm deciding whether or not to keep the long, long periods of time in the chamber or not, we all know her mental condition so can we leave it at that? I'm lazy so what do you expect  
  
  
  
And thus ends the first chunk. :D  
  
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	9. I'll have a double cheeseeburger and thi...

CHPATER TWELVE: Hollow-the pain of the shell  
  
Piccolo blinked as she bolted past him, He reached out and grabbed her arm, she ignored him so he tackled her instead. This earned him a head butt, but unfortunately for her, it hit the several tonne metal of his turban. She yelped and stopped moving. He got up, trying not to crush her.  
  
"dammit she's fragile!! How am I supposed to train such a weakling?" and lifted her off the ground  
  
"Control yourself girl" he growled at her, her face had returned to the empty look it always bore  
  
"Three weeks" she said dreamily, he scowled disgustedly and dropped her, she landed with an annoyed growl but he was already gone  
  
Goku mentally counted down the minutes, he could sense the occasional burst of ki from the chamber, this surprised him, as it had never happened before. He shrugged, ten minutes to go  
  
Dende thought hard, he had sensed her churning mind when she last entered the chamber, he doubted she would handle another six months without losing even the steely will and perhaps even dark, side of her that upheld her against all other things. He frowned, wondering exactly what Piccolo was planning, it was obvious he was going to train her, though maybe not until she convinced him, and he knew she would, she was smart enough to know what kind of trainer Piccolo was. He also wondered what type of training, her mind was in a rather fragile state and he had a feeling there was a raging battle to rival any the Z fighters had faced within her, her pride, her thirst for, power? Evil? Blood? Death? Who knew? And all her pain, her madness, insanity, hurt and sorrow. In the few moments she had let her guard down to tell him her past h had picked up part of what made her the way she was. He frowned, wondering what state she would be in when she exited, he thought briefly about telling Goku to return her to Capsule Corp or Kame house, before she went in with Gohan, the risks of her snapping completely were high, but he had a feeling she would fight to the death for her right to be strong, to be the best. This was perhaps her deepest need; to be the best, to be in control  
  
The door opened slowly. Gohan gaped at what he saw. Miko was standing with Piccolo's arm slung over her shoulder blades, she hauled his weight with her, she grunted with the effort and dumped Piccolo on the tiles, the green man coughed, sending a purple trail of blood onto the tiles. Gohan gasped  
  
"What happened?" he asked. She was watching him, her eyes cold and hard  
  
"We fought" her expression did not change  
  
"I won" With that she strode into the early morning sunshine  
  
Goku looked up to see a very battle weary Miko step outside. Her face was grim and expressionless. He blinked as she sat down on the tiles and attacked the food before him, he had asked Mr Popo for something to eat and received a feast to fill even his saijin stomach. She polished off three plates before turning to smile warmly at him  
  
"Long time no see" she said, sounding rather cheery for some one who looked as if they had just come off the wrong end of a kamehameha blast  
  
"It was a special beam cannon actually" she said reading what must have been extremely obvious thoughts  
  
Miko scolded herself, she was better than this. Her acting skills had failed her abysmally in the past few weeks in the outside world, in the time chamber they were all she had, she knew they were starting to have doubts about her sincerity, she knew how to ease that, but she did not have he energy or the will power at this point, so she kept up her bright expression  
  
"Why so happy? You look pretty worn out" she grinned wider  
  
"Oh nothing" she said smugly  
  
"I just beat the crap out of a certain green jackass for the first time in my life" she added triumph to her voice. The fact was she could have sliced he green man in half long ago, she had the means, the skills and the motives, but this did not necessarily mean hat she would tell any of them that.  
  
Piccolo coughed again, sending a wet trail of blood down his front. Gohan placed a senzu bean on his lips and he swallowed it, feeling his body right itself. He growled as he got up, ignoring Gohan's hand  
  
"What happened?" he growled to himself  
  
"Over did it in training" he growled, he had no intention of telling the kid exactly what had happened, and he doubted Miko was planning on being all that truthful either. He scowled; she could fight, dam she could fight.  
  
*  
  
later on.  
  
Miko smiled to herself as she hummed quietly, knowing she was on the last leg of her journey. She did not feel the need to do anything except sit there and hum. She rocked a little, tapping her toes to the lullaby that would always put her to sleep, she knew she looked as dirty as the strange little girl who acted like a stray cat, only older, and most likely worse for wear. She smiled again, sitting on her hair, it was past her rear now, brushing the backs of her highs as she walked, she had never let it grow this long before, it grew about an inch a week, which was roughly four times faster than the average human's hair. She looked up and realised Dende was watching her. For some reason this did not bother her. He stared at her, his eyes suddenly making her uneasy  
  
Tien sat bolt upright, a sudden surge of, he was unsure what it was, deep in the pit of his stomach. He blinked a few times. It was now night and he had been in the middle of a fitful sleep. He shrugged to himself and immediately resumed tossing and turning. He got up and left the house. He lifted into the air to land silently on the roof. He watched the moon glitter as he realised it was full, somehow he just knew Miko would be watching it too.  
  
Miko watched the moon wondering just what Tien would be doing, sleeping most likely. She shrugged to herself; she could sleep for six months if she wanted. But she felt strange it had been over a year since she had seen him. It had become as though her only life was in the suffocating chamber of fallen snow. She hummed softly to herself and heard quiet footsteps  
  
"Watching the full moon?" she looked up to see Dende, Gohan and Goku were currently training in the time chamber and Piccolo was meditating. She shrugged  
  
"I have a sudden urge to go ozuu" she told him thoughtfully. He frowned  
  
"O..k" she could see him searching for words, to tell her something, she was too tired to probe his mind for clues, she was good at that, picking up signals and body language, a lot pointed to the answer  
  
"Miko?" she was looking at the moon again  
  
"Hm?" she heard him exhale then breath in again  
  
"I don't think you should go back into the time chamber"  
  
"Why not?" her voice was stricken, though he suspected that this, like everything else she did, was a ploy  
  
"Not to insult your intelligence I have several reasons, one, it does not seem to have increased your ki too greatly" she said nothing, not even looking at him  
  
"And next, I think it is putting too much stress on you" he said gently  
  
"After all, think of all you've gone through in the past few months in this dimension, and then factor in the time chamber, no one I can think of would have lased this long, not with a soul like yours" he added quietly  
  
"A soul like what?" her voice was calm, lazy almost, but he could sense the rippling power that was boiling under the surface  
  
"Tormented, twisted, corrupted, evil, dark, non-existent" Dende looked up to see Piccolo standing a foot or so back from him  
  
Miko smiled insanely to herself  
  
"You might just be right there" she told him amusedly and found herself drifting off to sleep, the cold night air seemingly not bothering her.  
  
Piccolo frowned, this was possibly the most open she had been the whole time they had known her. He noticed Dende watching her and realised with an annoyed jolt that she was asleep. He growled to himself and strode back into the palace.  
  
Tien couldn't take it anymore, he glide up the stairs and slipped into her room, her scent hit him as he stood in the doorway, breathing it in. For some reason he could not understand he had not been able to get the occupant of this room out of his mind. He breathed in her scent for a few minutes before returning to bed, and falling into an oddly peaceful sleep  
  
Miko awoke slowly, it was just dawning, this told her she had only a little time before her last leg of the journey into the endless realm of time. She smiled tiredly and got up feeling all her stiff muscles, she saw Gohan emerging looking sleepy  
  
"Hey" he called when he saw her. She smiled, fighting the urge to rip out his throat while she could  
  
"PaTience" she told herself. He blinked at her, she scolded herself for losing control of her expression for a second  
  
"I was just coming to wake you, we're up next" he said, almost sounding suspicious, she inwardly gave herself twenty lashes. She followed him inside and into the chamber for the last time. She knew if she survived this without blowing her cover she would either be raving mad or just plain crazy.  
  
Authors note: Bare with me! Please? It'll all be over soon and then I can sink my teeth into the fun stuff, well not the fun stuff, but I give you a hint, *giggles* lean in close *whispers* it's really, really cool..  
  
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Blood and lust-equals bloodlust, or does it?  
  
Dende frowned worriedly. He scolded himself for not making sure Miko went in with Piccolo last, and Gohan second, this would make it safer for both of the younger pair. He knew Gohan was attracted to Miko, it was rather obvious when you were a guardian. And he also knew that Miko was bordering on insanity, possibly running even deeper than that streak of steely resolve that made her a formidable opponent in any case. He did not know how Gohan would handle it, after all she most likely already had him twisted around her little finger, his unease about her motives was beginning to grow every time he saw her, he supposed it was because now he was wary of it, but that did not set his mind at ease as he thought of Gohan's trusting ways and naiveté.  
  
*  
  
Miko sat with her head in her hands, she was very sore. She blinked a few times to hear Gohan come in, he looked strange, she thought for a second and it hit home; he liked her even more than she had thought  
  
"Geezuz! God is every man this desperate!!!" she thought furiously, unable to believe she had not picked it up before, she had too much of this to deal with. He grinned  
  
"You ok?" Basically her time with Gohan had passed exactly as it had with Goku, with the exception that Gohan would be perhaps smarter than his father but he was still not a challenge, she found easy ways to manipulate the Son males, with Goku it had simply been food to get him talking, to learn his rather complex personality, Gohan was essentially the same.  
  
*  
  
Dende looked up, two minutes to go  
  
*  
  
Miko practically ran for the door, Gohan walked slowly behind her. She needed air, she needed freedom of movement. She shoved open the door to bright sunlight. She blinked a few times as Gohan came up behind her. Strangely enough she did not feel any closer to any of the three more powerful warriors. She rushed out of the palace and took and gulped greedily at the air. It was so gloriously easy to breath. How she longed for it to be night. On impulse she lay down and stretched out on the tiles right in the centre of the lookout. There was a chuckle and Goku's face came into view  
  
"Good to be outside?" she shrugged, instant defences building around her, in her haste to free herself of the constricts of the time chamber she had completely forgotten about Goku, Piccolo and Gohan  
  
"I'm sleepy" she said, taking the first option that came to her head. He grinned and walked away. She closed her eyes.  
  
Gohan grinned, from the looks of it Miko was asleep, it was strange, at one point he had found himself attracted to her, he wondered how many of the Z fighters could actually say they hadn't, his father and Piccolo would be a two exceptions and 18 was not a Z fighter. But it had somehow faded with the time he spent with her, as though something told him she was too much, nothing to do with age but she did not come across as your average teenage girl, she acted and looked so much older, mature would be the word, in a twisted sort of way. And despite the time he had spent with her he knew little to nothing about her. And somehow she knew all about him. It scared him really. He blinked as she got slowly to her feet. Her movements were slow and careful, he knew non stop training with Piccolo did that to you, when he and Miko had been training they had basically just sparred in their time  
  
Miko got slowly to her feet, enjoying the feel of the wind buffeting her calf length hair. It somehow remained easy to manage despite how thick it was  
  
Miko headed straight for the kitchen, she was starving but living with Goku had put her off food in a bad way. She opened the freezer and pulled out a two litre tub of ice cream, she had never been one to eat or gain weight when she was depressed, though she was not prone to mood swings as some females were, she just wanted to put the fattiest thing she could find into her systems and regain ten pounds, she did not like being bone thin as it left her with little padding when she fell, and it made her appear delicate. She grabbed a spoon and headed for the living room, Tien was sitting on the couch  
  
Tien grinned as he saw the ice cream in her hands  
  
"Hungry?" he asked teasingly, she grinned and tossed him a spoon  
  
"I just couldn't bring myself to eat around those saijins, they eat worse than you and Yamcha and Goku drooled all the time and-Ugggh" she made a face and plonked down next to him, she opened the lid and began feeding her face  
  
Miko noticed Tien staring at her, she blinked, it had been a long time to her since she had seen him and she had forgotten al about the time on the roof, it suddenly came to her, she blushed bright blue and bowed her head to the task of demolishing the last of the ice cream Tien had barely touched. She leant back on the couch and smiled, her stomach fuller than it had been in a while  
  
Tien grinned as she patted her stomach  
  
"Well this should add a few pounds, man I feel like a dam skeleton" he nodded  
  
"You look like one too" he noted her arms had increased ever so slightly in definition, though not to the point of looking out of place on her toned body. She was wearing ragged track pants, (one leg had been ripped of at mid thigh, he wondered how that had happened) and a sports bra, it too looked worse for wear. She grinned a little, noticing his gaze; he blushed and looked at the ceiling  
  
"I haven't forgotten you know" she said quietly, Tien felt a little tremor run through her from the point where their elbows met. The bright mid afternoon sunshine alone interrupted the calm and still, Tien wondered what to say  
  
"Forgotten what?" he asked shakily, she smiled and he found her chin resting on his shoulder, her breath warm in his ear  
  
"Don't pretend" she said softly, he found nothing to suggest she was toying with him in her voice.  
  
"So, umm." she smiled and got up, he blushed furiously and caught a glimpse of her face, she was blushing also, well blushing blue if you could call it that, he stared at her retreating back until she disappeared out the door  
  
Authors note: Ok, so it contradicts what happened before but she is half nuts and as we all know she is very prone to changing tactics.  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER FOURTTEEN Time calls on me-breaking my heart in two  
  
Miko breathed deeply as the wind swept back her, making her hair billow out behind her, a year and a half's growth bringing it down past her knees, it had surprised her that it did not stop growing once it reached her waist. Intrigued by this she had not cut it once. But now it was annoying, it looked bizarre to have green hair past your knees, she decided to slice off to her waist and get Rona to restyle it, it bothered her that it was this long, it was like having a cape on all the time, she didn't like capes. She sighed to herself as the wind washed away all her cares, she relaxed her forever-ready tongue and heart. She suddenly opened her mouth and screamed; screaming so hard she felt her lungs would burst she threw off her coat and clenched her fists. Screaming so hard and so long she ripped her throat to shreds. She strangely did not feel the need to cry. As she rooted down through her emotions as she screamed. She rooted past the confused surface, travelling past all her confusion, coming to rest finally at the steel shell that hid her soul, and her one goal now, it overpowered everything else. She smirked to herself, her plan was starting to fall into place. When she was in an evil mood she found it rather easy to fly. She lifted off the ground and left the little seaside cliff, not wanting to bestow such darkness as hers on one of the few places sacred to her  
  
Rona looked up and grinned as Nokia entered  
  
"Hey! Long time no see, oh my! I love the colour!" she smiled, remembering the last time a girl with no name had last entered. Nokia was wearing her classic sloppy clothing that she always did on her days off  
  
"What can I do for you?" she asked pleasantly, the supermodel smiled, looking rather tired  
  
"Whatever you can do for the hair, and I need to look like a model again" Rona noted the ragged chips nails, the slightly dried skin, the lack of facial products on her skin and she had lost the tan somehow, though she did look in much better shape. Rona also noted that there were a few scratches on her arms and shoulders where the boat necked old top stopped, revealing the now pale skin.  
  
"You need the works"  
  
"Whatever, start an account and send the bill to my agent or something" she said. She looked sleep deprive and appeared in no mood to argue, Rona took the opportunity to finally work all her powers on the now famous woman. She wondered if Nokia would mind a sign that said she had been here the same day she became famous. She made a note to ask her. She also note the long, long hair and wondered just how it got there, after all, it had would have only had time to grow to her shoulders and maybe slightly longer, she shrugged and got to work, Nokia was full of surprises  
  
Nokia smiled relaxedly after several hours of pampering she would normally have turned down flat. But Sally was rubbing off on her and she had gradually become more feminine, but not in the sharp deadly way that had always been synonymous with her core. Besides it was rather relaxing when you had just ripped your throat to pieces from screaming a lifetime's worth of insanity out of one's core. She sighed and closed her eyes as Rona snipped away at her hair, turning it into another more complicated style, she grinned to herself, Rona had been itching to get her hands on her hair for most of the time she had known her, an with no deliberation from Nokia.  
  
"Done!" She opened her eyes and gaped at her reflection. Her hair was streaked with burgundy red and a touch of crimson over a base that lightened her hair to a lighter green, a close version to Bulma's hair only a foamy green without the tints of blue. Her hair was cut into various ragged lengths, giving a very striking effect. It looked, incredible, and it made her eyes stand out from behind the ragged fringe, she wondered how Rona had managed it. He back of her hair had jagged edges as it ran from where it cascaded onto her shoulders, up to meet the thick long strands that still fell to past her elbow, framing her face perfectly, she stared at herself, not recognising who she was  
  
"How the hell did you manage it?" she choked out, wondering if anyone would recognise her. She shrugged to herself, it only made her purpose easier. She listened wide-eyed to Rona's response  
  
"Well as soon as I cut your hair the first time I kept thinking up stuff I could do with it, and I sort of formulated this" she indicated Nokia's head  
  
"And I've been waiting and waiting until it was long enough, then I had to convince you, you made it easy though, I thought you'd freak out at so much fuss made over your hair" Nokia grinned  
  
"I got the flu, it hit me really hard, I couldn't go back to work looking the way I did, so I came to a professional" Rona grinned, savouring the compliment from such a star  
  
"You know you're actually really famous, you don't realise it but when you walk in the streets people stare, like they know who you are, you're face is all over the city, and you just walk around ad if you're a nobody" Nokia frowned  
  
"You might be right there. But I have a whole other life away from work and all this stems from the time I spend in the city. So I guess since I don't really live here I just don't see it" Rona grinned and shrugged  
  
"You're strange, you know that" Nokia laughed and grinned at her reflection  
  
Tien shifted uncomfortably; yet again he was thinking about Miko, she occupied all his thoughts. He sighed and made a note to speak to her when she returned, he knew she would, she always did. He wondered just how it felt to spend a year in another life. He felt about for her ki but found nothing, he had gotten used to not being able to sense her. He sighed frustratedly and went outside to train, contemplating her life, it was so much more varied than his; she had a job, a social circle, a whole other world to his, he on the other hand, did nothing but train sleep and eat  
  
And think about her  
  
*  
  
Nokia smiled to herself. She, Rona and Sally linked arms and strolled into the large building, it was a social event, the one Nokia had been invited to, it hadn't taken much to bring Rona because Sally and Robert had already been invite because of their involvement with her. Nokia smiled, Sally gave her arm a squeeze  
  
"You look amazing girl, not hot, not pretty, beautiful" Nokia smiled appreciatively, she was not in her element here but she could be in the driver's seat wherever she was, with renewed confidence she handed the invitations to the man in a velvet suit by a table. His eyes widened when he saw the name  
  
"G-go right in" he whispered, his eyes following her until they disappeared into the large double doors  
  
"Told ya" Rona hissed, Nokia turned to smile elegantly. Sweeping across the huge room filed with tables and people.  
  
Yamcha watched as Tien trained, he was distracted, Yamcha had a feeling he knew who it was, though he tried not to think about it, after all, he had his eye on Miko as well, and Tien had not said a word. He shrugged and turned to the TV Master Roshi was glued to. It was coverage of a social event, one where all the rich and famous people went. The ball was an old tradition, the presenter told them. He grinned as the camera panned around the room, showing a room full of hot babes, well there were plenty of ordinary people too, but there were a lot of models he recognised from magazines and various adds and things like that. Suddenly a striking head of hair caught his eye. It was almost hidden by the crowd but was so eye catching you couldn't miss it  
  
"Go that way" he gestured, telling the TV, Master Roshi gave him a funny look and shrugged, as if on cue the camera flicked to the presenter  
  
"It has just come to our attention that supermodel and explosive star Nokia is here" Yamcha jaw dropped  
  
"Little is known about the elusive beauty, and this would be one of the few times she has been seen in public outside of a photo shoot, though throughout her incredible rise to fame, she has done countless good deeds for various charities, donating large amounts of money, and is even said to know the great saiyaman"  
  
"Well where is she?" he demanded of the screen  
  
"We would have seen her head, it's not exactly easy to miss" he told Master Roshi this time  
  
Nokia blinked as a microphone was shoved under her nose, she blinked  
  
"Hello Madam, we are just doing a few interviews" she blinked then flashed a dazzling smile, she saw the presenters eyes travel up and down her shape, she ignored it  
  
"So, what brings you here Ma'am? I can't say I recognise you" he asked, the microphone still right in her face, she raised a gloved hand to lower it so she could speak without the risk of having it shoved down her throat  
  
"Just interested" she said casually. The presenter persisted  
  
"We are just taking casual interviews, might I ask your name"  
  
Yamcha watched, Tien had just come in "Hey watcha watchin'?" he asked casually. Yamcha grinned  
  
"Some hot babe get interrogated"  
  
Tien sighed; Yamcha was almost as bad as Master Roshi. He glanced at the screed and his jaw hit the ground, the woman on the screen was stunning, even more than Miko, or even Bulma. Her raggedly cut hair framed her face with the amazing colours, her features were familiar and he frowned, seeing her eyes, Golden eyes?  
  
"That's Miko!" he exclaimed. Yamcha frowned and peered closely at the screen  
  
"Hey you're right" he said wonderingly  
  
"She looks so, so, different"  
  
"Beautiful" Tien breathed, thankfully no one heard him  
  
*  
  
Nokia flashed a smile, suddenly Sally jumped in  
  
"This is Nokia" Everyone around them went silent  
  
"Oh shit!" The camera moved much closer to her face  
  
"Nokia? I see you've changed the look yet again, tell me, is this a regular occurrence? You're a hard person to find" She inwardly groaned  
  
"I was invited, I couldn't in good conscious refuse" she said articulately, smiling slightly, not enough to indicate she was enjoying herself  
  
*  
  
Tien stared at the screen. She was wearing an amazing dressing, with black silken gloves up to past the elbow with diamond shapes cut out on each side, an armlet running from the top of her left glove to her shoulder, she had the wrap around from a kimono around her waist and ribs, with a diagonal cut low cut red sleeveless shirt half covering it, and a red skirt following the same lines contrasted beautifully with the black of the waist part. She had diamond earrings and an obsidian pendant and her hair was three different colours. He blinked a few times as she skilfully avoided more than a few questions  
  
Nokia was beginning to regret letting Rona have her way with her hair and Sally with the dress, she stood out way too much, people were snapping photographs, surprisingly there had been no journalists outside the building, they were all inside. She dodged a few more questions and shrank away  
  
Tien blinked as she seemingly disappeared. The presenter yakked for a while about what an achievement it was to find such an elusive superstar. He frowned, searching the crowd for her head; she had somehow just melted in  
  
With the journalists out of her face Nokia had the time of her life. She allowed herself to be led around by Rona and Sally, who were parading her like a prize poodle. She suddenly noticed a certain man in brown and white gi, she groaned  
  
"Oh look! It's Hercule!" Rona cried  
  
Hercule raised his arms and went through his routine poses. Suddenly he spotted a hot babe, actually the room was full of them, but her hair made her stand out, she looked oddly familiar but he could not be sure, he waved his hand and the journalists were removed by security guards. He parted the crowd easily, he noticed the woman he had spotted was being half dragged forward by a pair of moderate lookers, though nothing compared to the one they pulled.  
  
Nokia eventually gave in as Sally and Rona dragged her towards Hercule, she remembered her last encounter with the idiot, she smirked to herself, wondering where Videl was. She almost scowled as he stopped in front of her  
  
"Today's you're lucky day! I am inviting you to dance" he told her, pointing down from his height of perhaps five foot eleven, she could see his eyes mentally pulling away her clothing, she smiled sweetly and extended her hand  
  
"Oh Mr Hercule" she gushed, now thoroughly enjoying herself. She stepped closer as he took her hand  
  
"You know" she said quietly  
  
"We could always." she winked, then tightened her grip on his hand. His eyes widened and he started to gasp. She smiled again and applied a little more pressure  
  
"Well it was nice to meet you Mr Hercule" she said in her ditziest voice. He nodded as she realised his hand, she saw tears well up in his eyes and almost snorted in disgust.  
  
Master Roshi grinned, while Hercule did poses for the camera, he could see clearly the big man's hand was bruised and sore from the way he hid it from view.  
  
"Looks like our Miko caught the eye of the world champ" he chuckled  
  
Tien tensed angrily for a second before he realised what he was doing  
  
"I guess she showed him" Yamcha grinned  
  
"I just wish I coulda' been there to see it" They all laughed  
  
*  
  
Three hours later Nokia stepped into the cool night air, the function had been quite fun over all, Hercule had left her alone, she had found some rather prospective eye candy in the form of male celebrities. She closed her eyes and jumped, her half bare legs propelling her up and onto the roof. She smirked to herself and sprang into the air.  
  
*  
  
Yamcha yawned and heard the door open none too quietly. He sat up and gaped. Miko was standing in the doorway, she looked even more incredible than on TV, she dumped the small hand bag and shot upstairs. He grinned as Tien and even Chou zu, who slept the heaviest of them all. Groaned and sat up  
  
Miko shot downstairs in normal clothing and no make up (Sally had had a field day) Her hair was pulled up into the sloppiest of buns, but the jagged strands made it look as if she had slept with it that way. She looked at the lounge and cursed, she had forgotten how much noise she was making, Master Roshi, Tien, Chou zu, and Yamcha were all grinning at her. She scowled and headed for the kitchen for some real food.  
  
*  
  
Tien yawned and strolled outside, it had become a tradition of his to watch the moon every week or so.  
  
Miko sat watching the moon, her hair flying about her head in the light breeze. She sighed; Tien would be up in a second. All of a sudden, her goal did not seem so appetizing; she had lost sight of it.  
  
And now her heart was divided in the greatest battle she had ever fought.  
  
Authors note: Now we start to get somewhere, ok so the party thing was a bit amateurish, but I thought it would be cool to dress Miko up, hey it works for certain Z fighters does it not? Anyways, next time. Miko starts to put her mysterious plan into action  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Time calls-getting closer  
  
Miko sat down on the sand, she did not have work today and most likely would not for a week. Her contracts fluctuates a lot depending on how bogged down she was at a certain point. She had gotten straight back into the swing of things. She sill remembered the look Dende had given her when she left the lookout for hopefully the last time. She knew that every now and again he was watching, and this she did not like. She sighed, soon her plan would have to be put into action, whether it hurt them or not. She calmed the raging madness that came with anger by thinking of all the pain they would feel when the time came. She licked her lips, so much pain, so much hurt, hey would know her pain, know what it was like. She licked her lips again, but this time for the bowl of ice cream Yamcha happened to be carrying. She smirked to herself and decided to put stage one into action  
  
Yamcha looked up and started; Miko was right in front of him, in her usual training gear, though her hair was definitely not usual  
  
"Hey" she purred, he could not pick it up but there was something slightly different in her voice, something more than friendly, he inwardly whooped, maybe she was interested. She seated herself next to him, a little closer than she normally would, not once sustaining eye contact.  
  
Miko inwardly smirked, she knew from the kind of bastard he was he thought he could read signs, so she simply gave him what he wanted to see  
  
"Yamcha?" she purred, an old trick of hers, it was actually a hunting technique use by tigresses when they stalked prey, it confused the game and often it ran right into the huntress's mouth, just what she wanted  
  
Yamcha felt a small tremor run through him, he realised she was blushing a little; waiting for him to make the first move. He grinned; he had her right where he wanted her  
  
"Hey, Miko?"  
  
"Yes?" she said instantly, showing her eagerness. He wondered how he could have missed this before  
  
"Would you like to come to my next baseball game?" he noticed her eyes light up, but instead she simply giggled demurely and took the spoon right out of his mouth  
  
Miko brushed her lips against his for a fraction of a second, she felt his hand move around her and suddenly knocked the ice cream over her front "accidentally", they both jump back and blushed, she loved being able to make herself blush, she blushed blue because of her blood so it was a nifty trick  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Yamcha, I'm so clumsy" she half moaned, thoroughly enjoying herself. He quickly came to her "aid" leading her inside and insisting on wiping away the ice cream himself. She allowed him to do this but did not appreciate it, he came on stronger even than she imagined, but nothing she couldn't handle  
  
Yamcha blinked as she disappeared up the stairs as was her traditional exit  
  
Miko showered ad changed her clothes quickly, careful to put on something a little more revealing this time, she still had plans for the others and, Gohan would be coming up, and possibly Vegeta. She smiled to herself, now fully in the swing of plotting.  
  
* Tien looked up to see Yamcha strolling towards him. He grinned as the smaller man plopped onto the grass, his face was flushed and he looked as if he had been hit by a train full of sensu beans  
  
"What's up man? You look weird" Yamcha grinned  
  
"Miko likes me" he sang out. Tien felt a tiny pang of jealousy but it was soon overwhelmed by worry  
  
"Yamcha, is it a god idea to date her? I have a funny feeling about her, her motives may not be genuine" Yamcha frowned  
  
"What girl wouldn't wanna date me?" Tien could list a few he knew of but chose not to  
  
"OK, but just be careful, she is not as trustworthy as you think" this was the first time Tien had shared his views about Miko with anyone else.  
  
"OK man, and Tien?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Are you ok with this?" Tien blinked  
  
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm just lookin' out for ya man" he said more cheerily than he felt  
  
Miko ran into Yamcha on her way out of the house, his hand went immediately to her arm and she knew she had him  
  
"Listen Yamcha, as much as I hate to say it, you aren't my type, I'm really sorry if I gave you the wrong idea" He blinked, his face screaming shock. She slipped out of his grasp and ran straight down the beach, heading for the water.  
  
Yamcha leaned against the wall in disbelief. She had turned him down. After all the signals. How could this happen? He continued to question himself for a long time after that.  
  
Miko dived into the water, noticing Tien's eyes follow her suspiciously. She shrugged to herself as she spun about through the water. She laughed maliciously, the only thing to show for it was a large bubble, she had him nicely confused, now maybe it was time to see to the guardian.  
  
Dende blinked, he now checked on Miko more than once a day, but when he saw Kame house he could sense her but not see her, and something was wrong, suspicion and a jumble of mixed emotions were swirling about the house. H frowned  
  
"So it begins" he murmured. Noticing Piccolo watching him from the corner of his eye  
  
"She had begun then" he stated. Dende nodded  
  
"Only time will tell what she plans to do with this new power she has over the Z fighters, all I can say is it is not good"  
  
"You do know there is only one option then" Dende sighed and nodded again  
  
"I know you got quite close to her Piccolo, don't let your resentment of that cloud your judgement, we have to wait, of yet she has done nothing wrong"  
  
"We cannot let her get a strangle hold on their emotions, if we're not careful she could get our strongest fighters under her thumb! Even me" he murmured the last word so quietly Dende could barely hear it. Dende nodded  
  
"We have to wait, if we ca salvage he trust, or whatever is driving her to do this I may be able to heal her mind. If not, then." he sighed and continued even more quietly  
  
"We have only one choice"  
  
Yamcha jumped, Miko was sitting outside next to Tien, he felt a flash of jealousy, the bastard had stolen her, he had three eyes! How could she want him Tien over him, he was Yamcha, famous, handsome, the list went on for a while until she turned and waved at him, there was no trace of attraction now. He scowled and strode over to her  
  
"What do you think you're doing! First you come onto me and then you go and flirt with him!" he said angrily, taking her arm, she squeezed her eyes shut and yelped in pain  
  
"Let me go! I wasn't, alright! I sit next to all of you!" she started pulling away, he was surprised, he was not holding her too hard, was he?  
  
"In that!" he pointed at the skimpy bathing suit. Suddenly she scowled, her eyes flashing  
  
"Yes in this! I will sit next to whomsoever I please! Naked if I want to!" she began pulling at his hand. He did not let go  
  
Tien heard a cry of pain and turned around to hear Yamcha yelling. Miko was trying to undo his grip on her arm, her face taught with pain. He jumped up and strode over  
  
"Leave her Yamcha" he said quietly  
  
Miko inwardly cursed; it had not worked as well as she had hoped, no matter, she would fix that.  
  
Tien took Yamcha's hand and removed it from Miko's arm, Yamcha scowled darkly and then stalked into the house. Tien jumped as a sobbing Miko fell into his arms  
  
"He just went crazy" she sobbed. He awkwardly patted her shoulders  
  
Dende cursed loudly  
  
"Dammit!" Piccolo looked up, slightly amused by his outburst  
  
"What is it?" he demanded  
  
"I can't get a signal to King Kai, or anyone else, her twin, she's blocking it" he sighed frustratedly  
  
"We're on our own"  
  
Miko sobbed for a few minutes while Tien tried to calm her down. She smirked to herself as he spoke soothingly, gently rubbing her back, his hand sometimes unconsciously moving a little lower  
  
"I-I. Maybe I should go stay somewhere else" she sniffed a little. He nodded  
  
"Yeah, give Yamcha a chance to cool off" she nodded  
  
"I'll go pack" she paused, her eyes begging  
  
"Will you come with me? To pack I mean, he's in there" she allowed herself to tremble a little. He nodded after a brief pause. She inwardly scowled; he wasn't as smitten as she wanted, obviously he was not as trusting as he appeared. She mentally shrugged and went to pack  
  
Goku blinked and picked up the videophone  
  
"Hello?" a strained voice at the other end made him more aware  
  
"Hi, is Chichi there?" He blinked  
  
"Yeah, I'll get her" he said faintly  
  
Chichi blinked as the phone was handed to her  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi Chichi, it's me, Miko, listen can I stay with you for a while" Chichi frowned  
  
"Sure but why?" there was an intake of breath  
  
"Oh, Yamcha.we kinda.he asked me out and I said no, and it's really awkward" Chichi smiled  
  
"Yeah sure" she said. There was a sigh  
  
"Thank you so much. I'll be there in an hour or two" Chichi smiled at the thought of female company and went to prepare a spare room  
  
Tien shouldered the bag Miko handed him, it was small, full of her few possessions, she kept most of her outfits capsulised for she rarely wore them unless going to work, where he still flew her most days  
  
"You gonna be ok without me?" he asked carefully. She smiled weakly and nodded  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure Gohan will fly me in on his way to school or something and maybe I can convince Goku to spar with me or something." Tien grinned  
  
"I'll stop by every few days to see how you're doing, after all, I was the one who promised" she smiled again, more fully and hugged him  
  
"Thank you" she whispered, almost tearfully, he noticed again that apart from a little blue in her eyes, there was no sign at all she had been crying  
  
"How do you do that?" he asked as he took her by the waist and lifted into the air  
  
"Do what?" she asked as he shot forward, her tightly tied hair coming loose straight away, the many different length tickling his face. He sneezed out to the side and found to his relief she had restrained most of it in her hands and was stuffing it down the back of her shirt.  
  
"Hide any trace of tears!" he yelled over the wind. She smirked at his third eye as it watched her  
  
"Trick of the trade" she yelled, he barely caught the word before the wind whipped them away.  
  
*  
  
Chichi sat waiting in the kitchen, she had prepared a small meal, Bulma had told her Miko did not eat much, but then again, she could sometimes rival Goku, and that was a record. She smiled, glad of company, she had not had a female friend stay for a long time. She heard the familiar sound of flying and looked out the window to see Tien land.  
  
Tien set Miko on her feet and she hugged him quickly, this was not contact he was used to from her. He blinked as she pulled away  
  
"Thanks" she whispered. She waved to Goku who was training above in the air  
  
Miko knocked to find the door open instantaneously. Chichi grinned  
  
"Come on in" she said welcomingly. Miko suddenly felt bad about her plan, she pushed it away; Chichi would never know until it was too late.  
  
"Come on, I'll show you to your room" Miko followed the older woman down a corridor and into a small tasteful room, she smiled  
  
"It's beautiful" she said, exaggerating for effect. Chichi smiled  
  
"I redecorated a while back, I've been waiting for some one to use it" Miko smiled and placed her bag tidily in the wardrobe. She knew the quickest way to Chichi's heart was tidiness  
  
"I hope it's ok, but I brought over some capsulised meals for a week or so, I know I kinda just turned up out of the blue, so I thought it would be a good idea if you're not planning to shop for a while" She pulled out a few capsules, each containing a fridge. Chichi smiled  
  
"How thoughtful, I'll put these in the fridge and you make yourself at home" Miko smiled and nodded. Chichi left the room  
  
  
  
"Oh don't you worry, I will, I will"  
  
Authors note: Figured out who's evil and who's not? Believe me, even I don't know *_*! The plot is leading me at this point so sorry if you don't like this side of Miko. Personally, I think she's a real B*beep* oh yeah I can't swear in the notes can I? Oh well, you know what I mean. Next time, Hmm, as to that I have no idea  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Things fall into place-heart break and heroes  
  
Miko sat on the rough hewn bench, watching Goku and Gohan train through narrowed eyes, they were both in super saijin level two, their power making the dust and dirt fly up and around  
  
Goku blinked and paused in mid flight  
  
"Gohan, wait a sec" Gohan blinked  
  
"Yeah dad?"  
  
"Power down" He shrugged and obliged as Goku did the same  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Because we're going to blow Miko away" Goku indicated the girl who was sitting on a bench, her hair looking rather wind blown, but other than that she did not seem hurt  
  
"She must be pretty powerful to even be still there"  
  
Miko scowled as they turned and shot away, they thought she could not handle their power, she thought to herself, she would let them believe that then. She took off at the run faster than the eyes could see. The sound of continuous blows one after the other echoed to her ears. She stopped below the two golden warriors and called up  
  
"HEY!!" they both stopped flashing in and out of sight. Goku dropped to the ground  
  
"What is it Miko?"  
  
"I have a favour to ask, I have nothing suitable for training left, do you have anything I can wear?" she indicated her jeans and tank top. And she was not lying, her few intact outfits suitable for training would not be appreciated by Chichi, they revealed a lot of skin, and though Miko knew this would only help her cause she did not want to ruin it because of one factor. Goku frowned  
  
"Umm, Maybe Chichi will make you something, but until then, I suppose I could lend you one of gi outfits" she grinned  
  
"Thanks, I guess I'll just have to find a belt or something, I can always ask Bulma for some armour later" Gohan landed  
  
"What's wrong?" she grinned at him, he felt a sudden jolt run through him, there was more to that smile than meets the eye he realised, some of it he liked, and some he did not  
  
"Oh, Goku just said he'd lend me some gi, since you two and Piccolo destroyed over a hundred pairs of track pants and tops" Gohan almost blushed, remembering how much skin her outfits usually showed  
  
"Umm, hang on, Dad's probably a few size too big, maybe some of my old stuff will fit" She smiled warmly, this time he blushed for real  
  
"Thanks" she said happily.  
  
"Ask my mum, she'll get you something" She nodded and as she turned away he could have sworn he saw her wink, but it was so quick and so indistinct he was not sure.  
  
Chichi looked up to see Miko stick her head around the door  
  
"Hi Chichi" Chichi grinned  
  
"Come in, don't be shy" She was busy sewing one of her more battered Kimonos. Miko grinned and did as she was told  
  
"Hey, I have a favour to ask?" Chichi smiled  
  
"Shoot"  
  
"Well, I have nothing I can really were for training or work, most of my stuff is wrecked or made for the city, Gohan said you might have some of his old stuff that might fit me" Chichi smiled, it was slightly forced this time she did not like the idea of Miko fighting, she seemed rather delicate in the form fitting jeans and tank top, but Chichi knew a warrior when she saw one and Miko fit the bill to a tee, even her neck was toned, no sign of indulgence showed anywhere on her slender frame. She was well built but her figure was delicate and evened out by her height. Chichi decided to have a word with her husband and son about restraint  
  
"I'll go have a look" She said obligingly.  
  
Miko smiled to herself as she wandered around the small sewing room, it was sunny and bright and full of materials. She had no idea how to sew but decided to learn. When she was honest she hated the female home maker stereotype, but if it would please Chichi then she would be happy to play Suzy home maker, for a while anyway. The happier she got the woman the easier it would be to go through with her plan.  
  
Chichi re-entered with a pile of cloths in her hand, she had shirts from when Gohan was just twelve, she knew Miko was tiny compared to Gohan across the shoulders, but as for the other half her legs were very long, almost disproportionately so, almost. So she had anything from when he was thirteen to eighteen  
  
"Some of these might be a little loose, but I can always bring them in" she realised Miko was absorbed in a pattern book. She looked up and smiled  
  
"Will you teach me to sew?" Chichi suddenly smiled  
  
"Of course" She was a girl after her own heart, besides the fact she was a warrior. Miko jumped up ad took the pile of clothes  
  
"Great! Can we start tomorrow, obviously you're busy, sorry to interrupt you" She darted out of the room. Chichi grinned and got back to repairing her kimono  
  
Miko tried on a shirt, it was too large, so large in fact it revealed her black lace bra. She scowled and tossed it aside, she was not the neatest of people but she was so versatile she could become any person for anyone. And Chichi was best pleased with scrupulously clean, modest people. She pulled on another to find it was too small, it was purple and appeared to be a smaller version of Piccolo's outfit top. An idea came to her. She began rooting through the pile on the perfectly made bed. She grinned as she found a pair of purple pants  
  
"How cute, he takes after Piccolo, hang on, Piccolo trained him, and Piccolo-SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!!!! Dammit!! Dam you Piccolo, I should've known!!" She fought the urge to destroy the house in her fury. She now knew this household was out of her reach. She cursed under her breath. Time for plan B. She sighed. Sitting down. This was not going to be easy  
  
  
  
"You've only made it harder for them Piccolo" She sat down to sort through the strewn clothing.  
  
Gohan looked up to see Miko exit he house, she had an oddly controlled expression on her face. He grinned to see her attire, she was wearing the orange gi top he had worn in his early teens and the long loose pants he had worn similar to the ones he wore now, only smaller. It was an odd combination and he knew she did not like it particularly, though he was sure it was easier than training in jeans. He didn't know, he had never worn jeans before. She grinned at him, he also noted the gi sash was the blue one he had worn when he fought Cell, it occurred to him just how small her waist was.  
  
"Hey, you look different" he told her cheerfully  
  
"Yeah, yeah, let's get started before I get a wedgy" she sounded just right speaking in such a way. He heard a chuckle and his father landed beside him  
  
"Lookin' good" he complimented good-naturedly in his completely innocent way  
  
"Don't start" she said exasperatedly, Gohan also noted the tight blue singlet top underneath the gi shirt, she was wearing a pair of his mother's boots  
  
"Ok then" They both rose into the air, Miko somewhat unsteadily and they began  
  
Gohan fielded his father's blows and found Miko was actually making it easier on him, they had paired up against his father because he had the most experience but he found Miko was actually more skilled than himself, though she did have trouble staying in the air. Twice he had caught her by the ankle or hand as she fell. A large fist connected with his face and he shot backwards.  
  
Goku grinned stupidly and suddenly found himself propelled after his son, they collided with an earth shaking crash and landed just metres from the house. He got off a groaning Gohan to see Miko land unsteadily. He wondered how she had managed that. She staggered over to them and plonked onto the ground  
  
"Phew, that was fun" she said breathlessly. Goku gaped, there was not a bruise on her. Both himself and Gohan had trained her yet she still surprised them.  
  
Miko smiled at their surprise  
  
"New move combination" she explained, the real fact was she was no longer training to get stronger, though it would help, she was training for another reason, therefore she had no problems with taking out her aggression on the pair of unwitting saijins, it did not bother her if they got suspicious, what would they do? Kill the only hope for the earth.  
  
Tien blinked. Yamcha had started speaking to him again but deep down there were cracks of anger and jealousy in their friendship. He shrugged to himself, he had warned him. He wondered how Miko was doing. He thought about her more and more, but now his thoughts were filled with fear as to what she had meant to achieve by her stunt, it was too well set up, she got off the island too easily. Suddenly it hit him, she did not want to be around him. He sighed dejectedly, that had to be it.  
  
Miko yawned and sat up. She jumped out of bed and pulled on some clothes, not noticing she had her shirt on inside out. She ran a brush through her ragged locks that were already beginning to show the tiniest hints of regrowth. She smirked at her reflection, still not noticing her shirt. She sprinted out the door and skidded to a halt in the kitchen to nearly throw up; her worst nightmare come true  
  
Goku looked up from feeding his face and pointed to a spare seat. Miko looked stricken, as if she were about to bring up her internal organs. He chuckled at the rather graphic mental image and continued eating  
  
Miko blanched, she could not cover her distaste for this with acting. She took a seat and avoided looking at her transportation as he copied his father. She smiled weakly at Chichi who handed her a bowl of cereal. She smiled, at least Chichi did not expect her to eat a hot air balloon full of food. She and the older woman ate in silence, she noted Chichi also, did not look at either of the male population at the table. There was a yawn and Goten joined the table. She had not met him of yet  
  
"Hey Mum! Who's the girl?" he asked in a voice hauntingly similar to Goku's, he grinned  
  
"Hey cool hair, you must be a saijin for it to be that weird" he commented, stealing the bowl Goku was eyeing up  
  
"Hey!" he protested. But it was already down the boys throat. Miko jumped up and ran outside. Gohan blinked and followed Miko as she sprinted for the door, having no idea what she planned to do. The sound of throwing up and groans explained this, he was glad he stayed inside while she brought up what must have been a years worth of food. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She stepped back inside looking rather sick, at the sight of him she immediately steppe outside and repeated the unsettling process.  
  
Miko jumped violently as some one patted her back. She groaned and saw Chichi  
  
"You feeling ok?" she asked. Miko shook her head  
  
"It's just-" her stomach heaved again  
  
"I hate the way they eat" she held her sore stomach, it does the muscles a rather large amount of damage to throw up so much bile when there is little food in the stomach. She stood up and went to the outside tap, Chichi still following her  
  
"I don't like it either, but I got used to it"  
  
Chichi felt sorry for the deathly white girl. She looked terrible, her hair making her appear like a vampire with a bad hair day, or night as the case may be. She handed the girl a towel as she doused her head in cold water. Miko took I and rubbed her head dry  
  
"Thanks, looks like my ride will be a while yet" the sound of eating continued. Chichi smiled as Miko closed her eyes and dashed through the corridor, staying right away from the kitchen  
  
Miko took a shower and changed her clothes. She stepped outside and found some guy in a black body suit and some sort of green tunic and a helmet. She blinked  
  
"Uhh, Gohan?" the visible mouth opened in shock  
  
"You recognised me!" he shrieked, sounding very much like a girl. She bent so as to look up under the rim of the helmet, with a flicking motion of her hand it flew off his head. He was standing there, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open  
  
"Well you have the same build and no one else lives around here" she reasoned, he relaxed and placed the helmet back on his head  
  
"You ready?" he asked. She nodded. He rose into the air and took her hand. She forced her ki to her legs and lifted with him.  
  
Gohan blushed a little, her hands was warm on his arm. He blinked, remembering how he liked Videl and focused on not flying into a mountain. The city came into view. He swooped down a little lower, he noticed Miko kept her own weight airborne easily enough but did not steer at al. He supposed this was the problem; adequate power, but her fear of heights sopped her from steering  
  
Miko allowed Gohan to steer. Suddenly a craft came into view  
  
"GOHAN!!" she yelled over the wind force, he looked over and saw what she was looking at. One dark haired girl of possibly sixteen years was flying an air copter towards them  
  
Videl grinned  
  
"I've got you now Saiyaman" she blinked, seeing the figure next to the green one, wearing all dark clothing, she frowned, thinking back to the cell game videos. She shrugged and suddenly they disappeared.  
  
Miko let go of Gohan's arm and he shot into the distance. She forced her energy into staying airborne. She heard the whirr of engines after her and realise Gohan was too fast for the copter; therefore she was the target. She growled to herself and contemplated blasting it. But she could not without killing the girl, at least not yet, she sorely wanted to though. She skyrocketed upwards and suddenly an idea came to her. She stopped in mid air. She windscreen of the craft collided with her feet. She reached down and grabbed the dark haired girl by the scruff of the neck and the air copter in her other hand.  
  
Videl shielded her face as the windshield shattered on the woman's booted feet. She felt a hand roughly grab the back of her shirt and was hauled upwards. She struggled wildly but found she could not escape. She blinked and saw the air copter floating below her.  
  
Miko scowled as she hurled the craft past the outer limits of the city and right into the wilderness. Then turned her attention to the furious girl trying to free herself of her grip. She thanked the heavens her face and hair were hidden under her hood. She roughly pulled the girl under her arm and shot downwards, her anger fuelling her precision  
  
Videl thrashed but found whoever it was, was even stronger than her father. She blinked as the hand suddenly released her. She looked up to see a woman, she knew it was a woman thanks to the tight clothing revealing the slender figure. She narrowed her eyes to see she had been dropped onto the roof of the school  
  
Miko turned back and dropped onto the roof a few feet away from the girl  
  
"Who are you!" The girl demanded, Miko smirked from behind her hood  
  
"Your worst nightmare" the dark haired girl scowled, reminding her strongly of Chichi  
  
"And just what is that?" she yelled  
  
"Some one you do not want to challenge" the hidden face growled. Videl could almost see it twisting into a snarl  
  
"Oh really, then why do you hide under that hood?" she yelled  
  
"Because, I don't feel like being known as a murderer if I kill you" Videl snorted  
  
"There are few things that could kill me" there was a mirthless laugh  
  
"Yeah whatever kid, keep dreamin', I could count over twenty who could kill you with one finger, that is not counting myself" Videl was getting annoyed  
  
"You have committed more than one crime! I should haul your ass downtown" there was another mirthless laugh  
  
"Do you really think you could beat me? Go on then, take a punch" the voice invited. Videl smirked  
  
"I might just take you up on that"  
  
Gohan stopped in mid air as he felt Miko's ki flare up  
  
"Oh no" he said aloud  
  
"She wouldn't,  
  
actually,  
  
they both would" he turned around and shot to his right, his second breakfast forgotten  
  
Miko calmly took a hit to the face, it did nothing other than knock her hood off. She chuckled again as the girl's face blanked out. She made a slow seep kick that sent her crashing to the concrete beneath them. She smirked and pulled her hood back up before the girl saw her face  
  
"Next time, go for the knee, then back it up with a double punch kick combination, don't go for the head until your opponent is blocking all three of your other limbs" she told her nonchalantly. Videl jumped to her feet and charged again. All her hits impacted but the girl did nothing but hold her hood on, the blows seemingly not hurting her. She swung around and landed a kick that saw the girl leap into the air. There was a flicker of movement and suddenly Saiyaman stepped between them  
  
"Hey! Get out of my way!" she yelled, attacking him instead  
  
Miko laughed her evil laugh and took off  
  
"Have fun squirt" she called, her hood flying away with the force of the wind, but the girl was too busy trying to get past Gohan who just blocked her way. She grinned to herself and headed to work  
  
Gohan dodged Videl's attacks and sighed, he took both her wrists and lifted her off the ground, she kneed him hard which did nothing at all. He felt Miko's energy fade into the distance and sighed in relief, taking off after her, leaving an enraged Videl. It was then that he realised he was late.  
  
One week later.  
  
Chichi looked up and saw Miko land, she looked rather annoyed at something. Chichi grinned and waved  
  
"Hey Chichi" she said tiredly  
  
"You alright?" Chichi had learned to read Miko quite well and had the feeling it had something to do with Gohan, after all, the girl might look twenty-two, twenty-five, but she was only seventeen.  
  
"Yeah, just really, really tired, some girl keeps following us on the way to work, I'm slower so she ends up following me, I've totalled three air copters so far, she just won't give up! And to top it all off, she's forever trying to fight me!" Chichi shook hr head  
  
"Just try not to hurt her" Chichi had sparred with Miko once out of curiosity and had lost in less than ten seconds without landing a blow, that was even quicker than when she trained Goten or Gohan.  
  
"I try" Miko walked wearily into the house  
  
Miko glanced at the TV and saw an ad for the world martial arts championships. She grinned; she was planning to enter. She blew a strand f hair out of her face and sat down to watch, groaning at the sight of Hercule brandishing a belt that belonged to pretty much anybody except him. She smiled to herself and decided she would get the die stripped from her hair first. She didn't wan to show up any more than she already did.  
  
Goku walked in to see Miko curled up with a cushion in a large chair in front of the TV. She looked up and grinned  
  
"You gonna enter the world martial arts championship?" she asked. He grinned  
  
"Why so you can throw me into a different kind of ground?" she nodded and burst out laughing  
  
"Actually I was hoping to throw Vegeta into a different kind of ground" at this thought Goku snickered s well, though h would never admit it, he always found it funny to look back on the times Vegeta had gotten his ass kicked. He smiled and noted the entry deadline  
  
"It's pretty soon, we may not be able to get places" he commented. Miko grinned  
  
"I know some people"  
  
Videl smirked as she ripped the band-aid off Gohan's face  
  
"So it is you then!" he blinked then his face collapsed into defeat  
  
"Please don't tell anyone" he pleaded  
  
"I have to protect my family's privacy" he pleaded like this for possibly ten minutes before she stated her demands  
  
"You enter the world martial arts championship, I've been wanting to bat you up since the day I saw you fight" he sighed  
  
"Ok, just don't tell anyone" she narrowed her eyes  
  
"And one more thing" he cringed  
  
"I wan that girl you fly with all the time to enter too, and I want her name" he blinked  
  
"I can't do that, please don't tell" she smiled sweetly  
  
"Well you'll just have to get used to publicity then"  
  
"Please, I can't tell you, it's not my right, if I did she would probably kill us both!" Videl scowled  
  
"Well if she's a criminal she should be behind bars"  
  
"Not literally, well maybe me" Videl scowled  
  
"Those are my terms" He sighed  
  
"Fine, I'll ask her to enter, but I can't give you her name, I don't even know her last name anyway" Videl scowled but agreed  
  
"Fine, you better show up though, and tell your dad he better enter as well, I don't want to miss the former champion"  
  
Gohan cringed and winced, he was stuck between a very large rock and a much harder place and possibly several painfully sharp stones.  
  
  
  
"This just keeps getting better and better"  
  
"WHAT!!" Miko and Chichi screamed in unison  
  
"Why the little" Miko looked as if she were about to strangle him, only his father standing nearby made him feel slightly safer, maybe the two of them could survive if they worked together, he wasn't sure which one was looking more murderous, Miko or Chichi.  
  
"I will not surrender my name to that little." Gohan noticed Miko had not sworn once the whole time she had stayed, this surprised him greatly, he began to wonder as they yelled at him whether or not it was because of his mother  
  
Goku defused the situation gradually, Miko was still furious, he was not sure who she planned to kill first, Videl or Gohan. Either she was not best pleased. In the end he grabbed Gohan and dragged him outside, preparing for a serious lecture, he had to make sure Gohan knew how dangerous Miko was  
  
Gohan blinked as his father hauled him outside  
  
"Listen Gohan" he hissed, Gohan had never seen his father so mad and so scared at the same time  
  
"Miko is dangerous, very dangerous, what you have done is putting us all at risk, we have no idea what she plans to do, so listen to me. From now on you keep a close eye on her, when you're not with her, you're with Videl, she could be in danger, I'll watch your mother, and keep an eye on Miko when your busy" Gohan frowned  
  
"But Dad, she's not insane or anything, sure she might beat me up but she wouldn't go-"  
  
"Gohan, listen. We have to play it safe, as strange as it sounds Miko is not all she seems, there angry your mother's way and then there's her way and there is nothing, nothing, more dangerous than that"  
  
Goku was unsure as to why he was so afraid for the lives of his wife, son and Videl, but something in Miko's eyes told him to be very, very careful  
  
Miko was in fact plotting murder, but not the kind they thought. A new idea had occurred to her that no even Piccolo could have anticipated. She smirked evilly and channelled her pissedoffedness into forming the plan.  
  
*  
  
Videl blinked, noticing the way Gohan was forever glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes, and just as the bell rang he was immediately walking beside her  
  
"Come with me" he hissed. His hand pulling her into an empty classroom  
  
"I'm not changing my mind" she told him flatly. He shook his head, glancing around nervously  
  
"Do you have any idea what you have done? You have put yourself and my family in danger" Videl frowned  
  
"How so?"  
  
"You annoyed a powerful woman, and she is after blood, mine yours, anyone's" he was hissing the words furiously  
  
"Who? I'll fix her"  
  
"No you won't" he told her sternly  
  
"Listen to me, you have endangered everyone close to you, do you understand, there is nothing you can do so stick close to me and pray you survive" Videl raised an eyebrow  
  
"And just what are you going to do?"  
  
"If you live you will see"  
  
*  
  
Miko smiled to herself, immediately noticing how Goku was suddenly wary of her. She decided to put his mind at ease, she knew he thought she was planning to kill some one, though this was to extreme, even for her, well, almost.  
  
"Goku?" he jumped, sweating profusely  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I just wanted to ask if you could go and get me some river water, I'm cooking for Chichi tonight and it has to be particular"  
  
Goku winced, he nodded weakly and shot away, he figured he could sense her energy if she planned anything against Chichi, but it also worried him that her ki was always level, never going upwards except for massive power surges.  
  
Miko smirked to herself as she began coking vegetables and rice. She was actually jus cooking stuff out of a packet but no one else would know that. She placed a tiny nutrient pill into the pot, this would mean small amounts would fill even the saijin stomach. There was a crash and Goku burst through the door, tense and ready.  
  
Chichi looked up and smiled  
  
"Hello Goku, you didn't take long" She was relaxing while Miko talked her through the recipe, Miko was also a god cook and had already worked her way through half Gohan's old gi to bring it down to her size. She noticed Goku watching Miko warily, she shrugged; he was probably scared there wouldn't be enough  
  
Gohan stepped through the door to the intoxicating smell of cooking  
  
"What's for dinner mum?" he asked. His mother looked up and grinned as he entered the kitchen  
  
"Ask the cook" Miko grinned at him and placed a rather small pile of food on his plate  
  
"Try it" she sat down in between Goten and his father, he noticed his father torn between the delicious smell and the possibility it was poison  
  
"What's wrong?" Miko looked hurt  
  
"Nothing!" Goten yelled, diving in  
  
"Goten!" His father's hand caught Goten's before it reached his mouth  
  
"What's wrong with it? Don't you like curry?"  
  
Miko inwardly smirked  
  
"Well if you think it's too hot I can make something else" she plastered a slightly hurt, slightly needy look on her face. She could see everyone's hearts softening  
  
"Of course it isn't" Chichi tucked in before anyone could stop her. Miko shrugged and started to eat. She was full by her third mouthful, Chichi was full after two  
  
"It's so filling" she exclaimed.  
  
Goku realised there had been no harm intended and began stuffing his face. He saw Miko struggling to hold onto her own and stopped  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked innocently, not actually realising his face was plastered with food, she turned her head away. He shrugged and went back to eating.  
  
*  
  
Chichi had words with her husband  
  
"How could you? She went to an effort and you wouldn't touch it!" she hissed. She had seen Miko's well-hidden hurt  
  
"But Chichi-"  
  
"No buts! How could you be so cruel"  
  
Miko dusted off her hands, having calmed several suspicions, she only had one more to do.  
  
"Gohan?"  
  
"Hn?" he looked up from studying  
  
"I'm sorry I got so mad, it's just, I don't like people intruding on my privacy, I'm sure you understand, I had a bad day and I took it out on you, can you forgive me?" she did her best puppy dog face, Gohan laughed  
  
"Yeah sure. I'm sorry too, but she was blackmailing me"  
  
"That's ok, are we friends again?" he grinned  
  
"Definitely" she laughed and hugged him, ending with a kiss on the cheek, she danced him round the room wildly, knowing he thought it was all fun and games to her. It was.  
  
Videl found Gohan no longer watched her anymore, she pulled him into a spare classroom one afternoon  
  
"So what's the deal, was that little act just a ploy to scare me" he grinned and nodded apologetically  
  
"Yeah, I thought I could scare you, but I couldn't" Videl could have sworn she saw him smirk as she stalked out of the room.  
  
*  
  
Miko sat on her bed and considered, her career was prospering, she was entering the tournament and her plan was coming along nicely, soon it would be time to initiate stage three, but how to arrange it?  
  
*  
  
Tien sat on Miko's bed, he sat here sometimes, the room was still full of her scent, her style, and a few of her possessions, there was one stuffed animal, he never found out why she liked it so much. He decide to take it to her, along with her baseball cap, which she had forgotten, it had been roughly a week since he had seen her, he was almost afraid to.  
  
Authors note: So I'm going through the evil stage with her, no body dies, yet, promise, sort of. Umm next, things start to move quicker.  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
20-8-02 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: My heart breaks, my soul dies  
  
Tien landed outside Goku's house to hear the sound of fighting, He blinked as Miko slammed into the ground next to him, leaving a crater that took the ground out from beneath his feet, he rose into the air to avoid the flying rock and landed as she got slowly up, the mottly gi she wore pretty much shredded  
  
"Hey how's it going?" he asked cheerfully, she laughed and hugged him  
  
"Long time no see" she said in his ear. His breath caught in his throat. She giggled demurely in his ear and pulled away, Goku and Gohan had landed a few feet away. Greetings were exchanged.  
  
Far, far away pale fingers tapped the arm of an obsidian throne  
  
"Oh sister, you are slowly turning to my will, how delightfully evil, and with the little guardian cut off their all on their own" there was a dark giggle  
  
"But I see it is not my will that drives you, no it isn't, it is your own, oh even better" the giggle grew louder  
  
"Oh but sister, what is your purpose? Surely just killing them all would be easier than slowly manipulating them, but for what reason? Oh well, I see your mind is even more twisted than your soul" the huge chamber rang with high mirthless laughter  
  
Dende gasped  
  
"Dammit!" he cursed a few times, Piccolo looked up  
  
"What is it?", the usually expressionless face was showing worry, lots of worry  
  
"She's even blocked Guru out, we are really on our own, I'll keep trying, but I need you to bring Miko here in three weeks" Piccolo frowned  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Her mind is at breaking point, we need her where she won't hurt anybody, there's a chance I can heal her, if not, then." They both knew what must be done  
  
*  
  
Miko sat on the roof looking at the moon, Tien was next to her, Goku had convinced him to stay the night  
  
"Miko?  
  
"Hn?" she did not look at him  
  
"Why do you treat people the way you do?" he turned to frown at him  
  
"What are you talking about?" He frowned  
  
"I watch you sometimes, you change the way you act towards certain people, why?" She had known it was coming  
  
"Well I guess I do it because I'm scared, you know, I spent my whole life acting, so I don't know what's underneath. In some ways I'm afraid of what I'll see" She was telling the truth, in a twisted sort of way.  
  
On impulse Tien placed his arm around her, she flinched and he went to remove it, her hand caught his and pulled him closer. He grinned, his assumption had been wrong. She leaned against him, her breathing slow and quiet  
  
*  
  
Goku grinned to himself as he went to sleep  
  
* Miko crossed off the days on her calendar, it had been three months now, she smiled, three months. Exactly. And the tournament started today. Everyone else was preparing. She had an uneasy feeling, it had been three weeks since Tien first came to visit, and the following morning she had found her old stuffed animal on her pillow, he had come again twice but never mentioned it. She sighed. Then pulled herself up sharply, she wondered just where that had come from, she never sighed, she did but not like that, it was almost..lovesick? She made a face and brushed her hair slowly, the green had come back through but the cut still remained, it didn't look half bad either. She decide to cut it for the tournament, Rona would fix it up afterwards. She twisted the long strands into a plait and made a slicing motion with her hand. The rope of hair hung limp in her hands. She grinned and placed it in the box under the desk with about twelve others, she collected them, she had a purpose for all her plaits. She smirked to herself  
  
*  
  
Piccolo rose into the air, the tournament was starting and he had a job to do. He shot downwards to the meeting point  
  
*  
  
Vic looked up to see his favourite stars enter  
  
"Hey! Goku!" the spiky haired fighter looked over and waved. The small group behind him frowned. Vic decided to drum up some excitement for the crowd.  
  
"Hey guys! You're back, I was starting to think you guys were all dead or something"  
  
Miko raised an eyebrow as a few of the fighters started eyeing her up, most could not seem to decide who to goggle at, herself or 18, she scowled darkly and made a deadly gesture to a few, some averted their eyes, some did not.  
  
"Ok People Now that everyone is here Let's get started, all you have to do is punch our latest machine and the top fifteen highest scores get a place, who knows maybe you'll even get to fight the champ!" there was a cheer from the crowd  
  
(Authors note: I'm gonna fast track through the tournament stuff, you know what happens, I'll stick in the bits that I change k?)  
  
Miko raised an eyebrow as Hercule raised his hands  
  
"Videl I feel so sorry for you" she said disdainfully, she blinked as they Gohan stepped up to the machine. There was only herself and Videl left of their group after that. She grinned as Videl scored a 150  
  
"Next please, A miss, Nokia?" the chatter silenced. She scowled and stepped forward, the whispering started up again, about her now. She drew her fist back and was about to smash it into a wall when Krillin hissed at her  
  
"Take it easy!" she scowled and sighed in frustration. He frowned warningly as she drew her fist back, there were sniggers, in answer to this she scored a three hundred. She smirked to herself, hearing the thuds of jaws hitting the stone floor  
  
"I said take it easy Miko!" Krillin hissed, she smirked  
  
"So what if they get a little scared, I like it that way" she saw Krillin shiver a bit and then move a little closer to his wife, for protection she supposed, she smirked at her fellow female and left at a steady gait  
  
*  
  
Miko sat on a bench in the dressing room, there were two others inside, Videl and 18. She stared at the floor for a while before leaving to find Sheme; Bulma said she would bring him along if he wanted to come.  
  
*  
  
Bulma stood up and waved as She saw Miko exit the off limits section. Sheme started jumping up and down. He had stayed with Bulma for three months now and wanted to see his sister fight again, they spent half days together pretty much every day but Bulma knew if Miko was not so afraid of Vegeta she would have stayed with Sheme. She smiled as Miko look up and waved, Sheme took off through the throng of spectators. Bulma ran after him.  
  
Miko nearly fell over as Sheme tackled her. Smothering her in a bear hug  
  
"Hey! I'm glad to see you too" she gasped, she had not seen him in perhaps three days  
  
"Do I get to watch you kick some but?" he asked desperately  
  
"Sure kid, just go into the stands with Bulma and Chichi and you'll get to see me fight and Trunks and Goten too"  
  
The boring proceedings followed, Miko found she was up against a guy called Kipeto, this did not bother her, the guy was huge, but she could sense his power, it would not be hard to manipulate  
  
Shin took a careful look at the green haired girl. She was sitting on a bench with her head in her hands, he felt about in her emotions, she was thinking dark thoughts, terrible thoughts. He shivered  
  
"I believe Kipeto, that we have found our dark force" he pointed to the girl. His head guard nodded  
  
"What should I do? I am fighting her first" Shin considered, her ki potential was rather high, and he noted how her ki had stayed at a level plateau all the time she had been at the arena, ki normally showed peoples emotions, often too indistinct to see, but though her ki itself was not dark, it was indifferent, which meant none of the emotion she showed on the top was completely real. This worried him. He frowned  
  
"Try not to piss her off, other than that you know what to do, we must find out her purpose"  
  
Miko jumped as the first adult fight was called. She gave Tien a quick hug. He blushed and she noted the other fighters grinning at him. She shrugged it off and whispered some advice  
  
"The guy you're up against, has a weak joint, his left knee, go for that" He nodded quickly  
  
Tien wondered how's she'd gotten that juicy piece of information. He could sense a sizable ki coming from the tall man, he had all grey skin and a large frame. Tien shrugged as they stepped into the ring  
  
Shin eyed the girl, his ears had picked up her advice to the tri clops. She was a strategist, picking up the weak points of any player in the game. He was up against a man called jewel for the fist round. He smirked; the man was weak.  
  
Miko grinned as the grey man landed outside of the ring, she was up next, she nodded to Gohan and the others and stepped out side  
  
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WE HAVE NOT ONE! NOT TWO!! NOT THREE!!! BUT FOUR CELEBRITIES FIGHTING HERE TODAY! FIRST IS THE WORLD FAMOUS SUPER MODEL!!! NOKIA!!!" the crow erupted into amazed cheers, many wondering just what the model was doing in a tournament. Vic went through little of what was known about the elusive star, which to say the least was a very short speech.  
  
"AND HERE SHE IS PEOPLE!!!!" Nokia placed a smile on her face and strolled towards the ring, her opponent a little way behind her. She wondered why the purple man had been staring at her all day. She shrugged to herself and went up the steps. Vic was rambling on about how size didn't matter and fair sportsmanship, he then went through the rules; no killing, (she did not particularly like this rule) etc, etc  
  
Chichi Cheered as the gong sounded, she frowned; Miko had not moved, she was still standing in the gi suit she had made especially for battle. She frowned  
  
"GET HIM" the crowd was starting to get restless  
  
"Nokia, force of evil, we know who you are, tell me your purpose" Kipeto repeated his rehearsed speech. She raised an eyebrow  
  
"Do you now?" She sank into a battle stance, one remarkably like that of the Supreme Kai, she smirked at his amazement.  
  
"Put your fist where your mouth is" she challenged  
  
Nokia knew he would not make the first move, instead he kept talking as she inched her way around the ring, searching for a weak spot  
  
"What is your purpose? The Supreme Kai wishes to speak with you, there is such evil in your soul"  
  
"Who the hell is the Supreme Kai?" she darted forward, landing a solid blow to the back of his knees, her boots bending easily with her ankles.  
  
Kipeto regained his balance an moved into a fighting stance  
  
"If I win, will you speak with the Supreme Kai?"  
  
"Nah, I plan to win anyway" he frowned, thinking of something that would entice her  
  
"What would make you speak with him?" she suddenly smirked. Driving her heel painfully into his elbow, he blocked her next three moves but missed the ki blast that sent a hole through his shoulder. He grunted and readied himself for all out battle  
  
"I will not allow you to win if you do not speak with the Supreme Kai" she paused  
  
"Whatever" and all out battle began.  
  
Chichi watched, rapt as Miko did battle with the huge man, she seemed to be winning, he was backing away, blocking her lightning fast moves. She cheered as the red man went down  
  
Nokia backed off as he got up, his left arm broken  
  
"Please" she scowled  
  
"Why would I speak to some idiot I haven't even heard of?" his eyes widened  
  
"He is the ruler of the entire universe" she snorted and they began a hit and counter routine  
  
Goku grinned  
  
"She's really going all out"  
  
"No, she is not" a cool, almost sinister voice said behind them  
  
"She does not know how" Goku frowned  
  
"Sure she does, most of us have trained with her at one point"  
  
"She has not powered up before, she uses weak ki bolts, she is barely touching on her power, just as you saijins are" Goku realised this man could read thoughts  
  
"So you know about us then?"  
  
"Yes, mostly, but her" he indicated the girl locked into a hard hit and run routine, she was darting in and out, delivering crippling blows  
  
"I have no idea about her" Goku grinned  
  
"Miko's nice enough once you get to know her" he did not know whether to trust the man or not  
  
"Do not worry, I will not tell"  
  
Shin watched the saijin, he was not the most intelligent man but he had enough of his wits about him. He knew he would get no more out of those around him. He blinked as Kipeto came dangerously close to passing out  
  
  
  
"Master, what should I do? She has refused"  
  
"Take the last option, beat her"  
  
"I do not know if I can"  
  
  
  
"Try"  
  
Kipeto got slowly to his feet. The crowds were going wild. He wiped away the blood on the corner of his mouth, with a roar he charged. His fist grazed her jaw before she could dodge. She went soaring upwards, and did not come back down  
  
Nokia smirked as she landed neatly on the red man's shoulders, she began drumming her heels into the base of his neck, he grunted and suddenly reached up for her ankles. Swinging her down and into the stone tiles. She gritted her teeth as blood poured into her mouth. She used her hands to propel herself upwards, driving her feet into his face, the metal soles of her boots leaving heavy bruising, and possibly a fracture.  
  
Shin narrowed his eyes, a little intervention was going to be needed, he sent a small invisible tremor to freeze her for a fraction of a second  
  
Nokia found she could not move. In that single split second, Kipeto grabbed her from behind in a strangle hold. She screamed in rage and tried to flip him, of course he simply lifted her off the ground.  
  
"I will release you if you agree" he spoke in her ear. She drove her heels into his front, unsure of where they impacted  
  
"WHOA!! IT LOOKS LIKE KIPETO HAS FINALLY GOT THE UPPER HAND ON OUR CITY'S BEAUTY!! HOW WILL SHE GET OUT OF THIS ONE!!!"  
  
"Agree" Kipeto growled, he was answered by a backwards head butt, she kicked away and swung around. Sending him flying with her heels, he landed an inch shy of the edge  
  
Nokia spaced her feet, breathing hard  
  
"FI-KA-TWIN ATTACK!!" she screamed, throwing her hands forward  
  
"Oh sister! You remember!" a cold voice said delightedly  
  
"That's right, a little more power, don't let him live!" the voice was annoyed now, pale fingers formed a small ki ball  
  
"Here sister, let me help you"  
  
Goku watched in awe as a shining ball of black energy swirled from her hands, straight at Kipeto  
  
"NO!" Shin yelled  
  
"She'll kill him"  
  
Nokia looked at her beam and realised with horror, it was black, swirling and terrible. It blasted forwards from her fingers. She did not want to kill the man  
  
"BLAST RETURN" she screamed. It slowed down but did not respond any further. She cursed, there was not a second to spare. She shot after it  
  
Gohan watched, it was as if in slow motion. Miko shot after her beam, her ki exploding around her in a whirlwind of bright blue. He suddenly realised why she was moving so fast, he could sense her intense power, and the fear that came with it. He also realised just where the blast would go if it did not hit Kipeto  
  
Nokia watched as time slowed down. Gohan was shooting toward her target. She narrowed her eyes and threw herself in front of the beam. Shoving Kipeto out of the way and onto the grass  
  
"ATTACK RETURN!!!" she screamed the words as the black energy impacted her outstretched hands. Soul wrenching pain tore through her. She screamed as her world disappeared  
  
"Miko!!!" Tien screamed  
  
"Leave her!" the shin commanded. A swirl of darkness surrounded the ring for a fraction of a second then disappeared. He saw Miko standing, expressionless, where Kipeto had been less than a nanosecond ago.  
  
Nokia breathed a sigh of relief and then scowled. She turned around to see Gohan staring at her  
  
"You outran your own beam" he said faintly. She realised Kipeto was unconscious on the grass  
  
"AND NOKIA WINS!!!" the announcer cried  
  
Bulma wondered what had happened, Miko had yelled some kind of attack and suddenly Kipeto was out, Gohan was standing by him and Miko was standing where the beam should have hit. She supposed the movement was too fast to see.  
  
Nokia stepped down to cheers and jogged back into the building, she paused to give a contemptuous glare to the Supreme Kai and headed for the hospital wing, no one knew it, but all of her ribs were broken and blood was welling up in her throat, she prayed no one had see her blood, it would be a hellish day if the media got hold of it.  
  
Shin followed the girl as she headed for the medi bay. As soon as she thought she was out of the sight of the others, she looked carefully from left to right then slumped down against the wall. She coughed, and he saw blue blood splatter down her front.  
  
Miko stared blearily at the purple face in front of her  
  
"Need a hand?" she batted drunkenly at the extended hand.  
  
Shin caught her hand easily and pulled, her legs did not straighten and she went nowhere, he sighed and slung her arm over his shoulders and basically dragged her the rest of the way  
  
Miko was vaguely aware of being near death for the second or third time in her life. She was choking on her own blood but did not have the strength to cough it up. She released her breath for what would be the last time. She was seeing the world through a blue haze, she realised that her lungs were not hurting anymore, she smiled through a mouthful of strange tasting blood and her twisted soul died within her  
  
Shin cursed. She was gone  
  
Authors note: This is not the end, I have been toying with the idea of killing Miko for a while, because frankly I don't like her *shrugs* Anyways, I don't know if I'll let her live or leave the Z fighters to battle her villainous twin on their own, after all, in my world, I am GOD. Heh, no need to be scared by little old me.  
  
Chou!  
  
Reviews!  
  
The more reviews I get the more likely I am to get better at writing with helpful criticism. The more advice I get the better I'll be. And then The better my stories will become. And that's all the better for the readers, who will get much more pleasure from reading my work. Give a little, get a lot. Seems like a fair deal.  
  
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLL LLLLLL LLL LLLL LLL LLL LLL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLL LLLLLL LLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLL LL LLLLLLL LLLL LLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL  
  
What can you see? Tell me what you think it is and I'll tell you if you're right. And while you're at it. You can review! 


	10. Have ya got any vodka to go with that?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Final atonement  
  
Miko found herself before a red man with a strange horned hat. He looked down on her calmly  
  
"Who the hell are you?" her voice sounded eerie and distant. He frowned  
  
"I am King Yamma, the judge of your soul" She smirked  
  
"Good luck finding it" she saw no point in acting now  
  
"Just a question"  
  
"Shoot"  
  
"Am I dead?"  
  
"Not exactly" she scowled  
  
"Make up your mind, if I'm dead I have a lot of work to do in hell and if I'm alive I have a lot of work to do on earth" he smiled  
  
"What makes you think you'll go to hell?"  
  
"Have you seen what I am?" she said annoyedly  
  
"There is still hope" she snorted  
  
"Yeah right, am I dead or not" suddenly she felt a sharp pain right through her rib cage she gasped  
  
"No, looks like you're not dead" suddenly a purple man appeared beside her. He looked oddly familiar  
  
"Come with me" he instructed  
  
"Who the hell are you?" he frowned  
  
"The Supreme Kai" he said hurriedly, the pain in her mid section was increasing. He somehow dragged her along some sort of path and up an escalator. She blinked, remembering  
  
"Oh so you think killing me will make me tell you?" her voice still sounded distant and echoey. He sighed  
  
"Your soul has transported itself along with your consciousness to the other world, I can restore you to life" She snorted  
  
"You expect me to believe you, after all, isn't time meant to have no meaning here, which means there is no rush" He suddenly smirked  
  
"You are certainly very clever, and yes we do have some time, at this point your body is going through massive cardiac arrest, the fact you are feeling pain points to the fact you are still alive" half way through his sentence she had doubled up, coughing blue blood into her eerily glowing hand and onto the steps they stood on, he tapped her shoulder, she looked up, her nose now bleeding freely  
  
"I can restore you to life" he said invitingly  
  
"If it hurts this much then no thanks" she choked  
  
"Well then I guess it's the home for infinite losers for you then, your soul is as twisted as I have seen" she smirked a little, bringing up more blood  
  
"Well I was always headed for hell anyway" she croaked  
  
"And if I'm gonna live like this" she indicated her face  
  
"I would rather die" Shin thought fast, she did not want to live, this was a problem, he had lost his bargaining chip  
  
"Think of the people who will miss you" she laughed mirthlessly, his planet was nearing  
  
"They are scared of me, and with good reason, I would have killed them all had I had the chance"  
  
"I doubt that somehow, you have feelings for one, Tien I believe he is called" her face paled slightly, though he could not tell if it was loss of blood or actual fear  
  
"I don't give a dam about him" she said unconvincingly  
  
"You forget that up here, you are no longer in your element, you cannot lie as well as you could on earth"  
  
Miko, now blinded by pain just wanted it to stop, her knees buckled and her leaned on the rail  
  
"If you live, the pain will stop" she would have laughed had it not hurt so much  
  
"Liar" she croaked  
  
"It will get worse if I go back" he smiled  
  
"But only until Kipeto heals you, then it will all go away"  
  
Shin knew her reasoning was going, he wondered why her soul had not yet left her, maybe it's grip on life was stronger than he realised, maybe she was playing him for a fool now. Suddenly he heard a strangled gasp  
  
"What do you want in return" she gasped, he smirked and knelt down beside her, she was clutching her ribs and her grip on life was slipping  
  
"Your story, and the truth of it" She choked  
  
"I-no" she gasped, he frowned  
  
"But it will make the pain go away, and you will be able to atone for your crimes" he said invitingly, she smirked  
  
"You got your guard to kill me, for my story" she laughed, splattering blood over his boots  
  
"Not exactly, your own blast did that, he would have just subdued you" she snorted, causing her nose to bleed even further. He frowned  
  
"Surely you want to live" she was lying on the steps now, her blood draining all the way back down to snake way  
  
Miko knew her death was near, he was searching for a reason to make her want to live  
  
"What about the little boy?" he asked, fear coursed through her  
  
"Sheme" she whispered  
  
"Do we have a deal?" she tried to nod but could not, her, last heart beat faded and her hand fell against the rail, covered in her blood  
  
Authors note: So I killed her, get over it. Maybe she'll get wished back, hint, hint  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN My heart breaks-my soul withers  
  
Miko opened her eyes to unimaginable pain  
  
"Welcome back" she blinked and sat bolt upright, this caused a large amount of pain to her midsection, she swore loudly as a hand pushed her back down  
  
"Lye still, Kipeto did not have enough energy to heal you completely" she cursed  
  
"Then I don't hold up my end" she spat  
  
"Oh he will soon enough, but I am afraid you could miss the second round" She scowled, she had been planning some fun for her next opponent  
  
"I will fight without his help then" she said, sitting back up again. There was a chuckle  
  
"Oh I don't think you will be fighting for a while, you managed to crush your own ribs and puncture your lungs. Kipeto came round just in time, though a good deal of the evil in your soul was wiped, you were so close to death, then we never would have known"  
  
"Known what?" she panted, still trying to sit up, his hand still held her down  
  
"You story my dear" she scowled  
  
"If you value your life you will not call me that" there was a chuckle  
  
"We have twenty minutes before the next round, I suggest you start talking"  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"In the medi bay, they couldn't believe you were alive, the story the public knows seems to contradict what I have picked up from your friends"  
  
Miko groaned, the pain finally forcing her to lie back down. She realised there were a lot of bandages around her middle and she was covered by annoying blankets, and her boots had been removed  
  
"You may begin your story now"  
  
*  
  
For the most part Miko skipped quite a bit, she never mentioned her thoughts on any of the many events that marked the past weeks, she laid the depressed-little-girl-deeply-scarred-and-hiding-her-emotions-but-breaks- down-after-some-prodding act extra thick.  
  
Shin listened as she went through the motions of holding back tears  
  
"You are certainly a very gifted actress. You almost had me believing you more than once" She blinked at him, her face twisted in anger, then going limp. She turned her head away. Then went to stand up, he stopped her but was reward with a ki bolt that burnt his ear painfully. He took her wrist and was startled to find it ice cold. He could not even feel a pulse. He listened carefully and found her heart was not beating. Yet she was whacking him repeatedly with her fists, and it was starting to hurt. He forced her to lie back down. She did not speak or even look at him. After perhaps five minutes her heart started to beat again, but so slowly he could have sworn she was in some sort of Zombie like state.  
  
Tien glanced nervously at his watch; 18, Miko, Piccolo, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Hercule and Videl were all in the second round, he scowled, it had been pretty easy for them all really, since none of them really had to fight the strongest of the group. Shin had pulled out before his match, apparently to see to his companion, he himself had fought Goku, and had lost spectacularly after twenty minutes. He glanced at the time again, she had five minutes he noticed Kipeto get up from where he had been meditating and leave the room. He shrugged to himself then went to find her  
  
Miko had been trying to get up for nearly five minutes but with the Supreme Kai in the way it was proving difficult.  
  
Shin sighed as she whacked him, it did not hurt but it was annoying  
  
"Calm down before you injure yourself" he told her sternly. This had no affect whatsoever. Suddenly Kipeto entered  
  
"Heal her quickly before she kills herself" he ordered  
  
Miko did not like the sensation of being healed but she desperately wanted to fight so she allowed the big man to lay his hand on her. She jumped up a second later and ripped away the bandaging, the red man looked as if he would pass out, he was breathing heavily  
  
"I could only partially heal her" he panted  
  
"She cannot fight" she scowled and left the room with the Supreme Kai following her  
  
"If you fight you will most likely injure yourself even worse, and then there will be no one to heal you"  
  
"Shut up!" she told him exasperatedly. She heard footsteps and Tien came into view  
  
"There you are! Are you ok? He wasn't bothering you was he?" She smiled and walked past  
  
"No, not at all" she said warningly, more to the purple man than Tien, he blinked for a second as she strode back to the fighter's waiting area  
  
Vic looked up and saw a rather battle weary looking Nokia emerge  
  
"AND IT LOKS LIKE WE HAVE FOUND OUR MISSING FIGHTER!!! NOKIA WILL BE COMPETING!!" she grinned and jogged up the steps holding her ribs, he covered the microphone and whispered to her  
  
"You ok?" She nodded, though her face was pale, and he could have sworn he saw blue on the corner of her mouth.  
  
Nokia blinked as she saw her opponent. None other than Mr Hercule himself. He looked her up and down and smirked  
  
"You're too pretty to be a fighter, models have no place in the ring, but you would look good on my arm" he said pompously. She smirked, answering with a right hook to his jaw as soon as the gong sounded  
  
Hercule blinked in surprise as he skidded back a few yards. She was panting a little, still holding her ribs. He wondered how she had managed to hit him so hard, he had not seen her at the Cell games, there had been no females at all there. He blinked again and realised she was behind him. There was a crunching pain and he flew forwards  
  
Nokia continued to play cat and mouse with him for a while longer. She got bored eventually and decided to give him more dignity than he deserved. She charged slowly, favouring her ribs; they were still killing her  
  
Vic watched as Nokia matched the champ blow for blow, almost too fast for the eye to see. He yelled about the fight of the century  
  
Nokia was well and truly bored now, taking the occasional hit simply from not being focused. She sighed and caught his fist as it came at her. She wondered how to end it as she blocked his next twenty moves. The perfect idea came, not too much effort and everyone would think it was a spectacular stroke of luck for her, and therefore she would not be harassed by media any more than usual. She ducked under his arm and swung around, he tripped forward and she shoved hard, sending him over the edge. He landed with a thud and the stadium went silent. She suddenly realised there was blood in her throat again, more to add effect than because she actually had to she crumpled there and then  
  
"Miko!" several voices called in unison. She winked at the Z fighters before closing her eyes. She was transported from the ring and back to the medi bay for the second time where she was surprised to find they had never seen her before, she supposed the Supreme Kai had mind wiped them. She was treated for bruising and pretty much everything Hercule had managed to worsen with his feeble blows. Several of the others followed, she smiled at Tien  
  
"Tell Sheme I'm ok" she whispered. He nodded and disappeared  
  
Authors note: Ok so didn't kill her, but I like to inflict pain upon my characters, it makes me the god of my world. Anyways, next time, Hercule has some explaining to do, Nokia has some hiding to do, and the tournament goes on  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER NINETEEN: I return-to face my own wrath  
  
Hercule nursed his bruises, when he had been fighting he got the feeling the girl was toying with him. He sighed miserably, he had been exposed, though it looked like a real fluke. He sighed again, even Videl had gone down, though she had come of with basically no injuries at all, the man she fought was the former champion. He had simply dodged everything she gave him and just knocked her out of the ring, he hadn't even broken a sweat. Neither of them had even made it to the third round, he smirked at the thought of the girl's clothing, she had been wearing tattered gi pants, a tank top with a gi shirt over the top, both being fitted to her size they revealed her powerful shoulders and obvious strength, but they also showed off her figure, though her hair didn't look that great, half shorn off, pretty roughly done.  
  
Miko sighed. The next round would be coming up soon. Tien had told her that herself, Vegeta, Goku and Piccolo had made it through, Vegeta and Gohan had squared off, Piccolo and 18 had fought next. Videl went down to Goku, though he had been careful not to hurt her, Miko was disappointed about this, she had wanted to be the one to take down the cocky girl. She shrugged and wondered who was next, she knew whoever she went up against she would not be able to pull off a victory without a miracle, all those in the third round were experienced far beyond her and when she had trouble walking she could not pull off any of her more wily combinations. She would fight anyway. Nobody would stop her.  
  
Tien looked at his watch  
  
"Miko, just stay where you are, you can't expect us to let you fight in your condition" She scowled and continued walking, he knew she was bruised in so many places trying to stop her would hurt her even further.  
  
"Who am I fighting?" she snapped. Tien winced  
  
"Vegeta" he whispered. He could have sworn she winced but it was too indistinct  
  
Vegeta looked up and smirked as Miko appeared, he was up against her, but it would be rather boring considering she was badly injured, but then again he had seen the rather confusing ordeal with the blast, her power would rival his own, but since super saijin transformations were out of the question it would come down to skill. He had not seen her fight before unless you counted the pathetic first matches  
  
"So you decided to show" he sneered, noticing she was still holding her ribs. She did not answer.  
  
"AND NOW!! THE FIRST MATCH OF THE THIRD ROUND!!! WE HAVE GOKU VERSUS MA JUNIOR!!!" Piccolo glanced at Miko and saw her ki was down to a dangerous low, after the first round it had fluctuated a lot which was unusual for her, he knew after the tournament the others would have a few questions for her, and since he had a job to do as well it could be a tricky one to get out of. He smirked at Goku as they walked out to the ring; he could power up, and Goku could not without risking his identity.  
  
Miko watched lazily, her ribs were still killing her, she doubted there was much anyone could do for those, but she would not pull out because of injury. She tore her attention away from a fight she knew would take a long time and went to sit to the back of the room. She saw more than one pair of eyes follow her. She slumped down against the wall and willed her body to stop hurting.  
  
Authors note: Since this story focuses more on Miko and her battles, I'm gonna cut out the other battles, I mean we both know how scintillating it is to see Goku and Piccolo fight. So I'll leave that to your imagination, besides we all know who's gonna win  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached storyteller) of ages  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY: The demon within stirs  
  
Miko fought the rising urge to cut her own throat, she knew the stress of her plans were starting to get to her, just a little longer, she consoled her darker side. She smirked and almost laughed as the announcer announced Piccolo out of the ring, they had taken an hour to get it over with. And she was next. Tien came over and offered his hand  
  
"You know he won't go easy on you" he said, she grinned and got up slowly  
  
"I know, but I won't go easy on him either"  
  
Vic jumped as an attendant tapped him on the shoulder, after brief whispers he grinned and nodded  
  
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! I HAVE JUST BEEN IN FORMED THAT NOKIA WILL BE FIGHTING!!!" the stadium was silent in collective awe, so many strange things had happened, but fighting after a match against the former world champ was really something.  
  
Nokia limped out next to Vegeta, he kept smirking at her  
  
"AND WE HAVE TWO REAL CROWD PLEASERS HERE!!! VEGETA AND NOKIA!!" She smiled weakly to ignore her aching ribs and headed up the steps, Vegeta was in a battle stance by the time she got to the top. She wondered vaguely how she was going to beat him, if she was going to beat him, she was more than a little afraid to use ki, she had no idea what it would do.  
  
Vegeta smirked as she sank into an awkward battle stance, she really was injured, he decided to make it easy on her and just knock her straight out of the ring. The gong sounded and he shot forwards.  
  
Nokia took a chance and dropped, landing hard on her front, Vegeta shot straight over her, she used the opportunity to shoot up into the air. He pursued her quickly, she knew this would be a quick fight.  
  
Vegeta shot after her, preparing to body slam her to put her off balance, she was known for her pathetic flying. Of course he wasn't expecting her to take to the air anyway. He blinked as she disappeared, he scowled, Kakkarot had taught her a few tricks, or maybe it was the other way around, he scouted about for her energy and found her waiting by his left shoulder, he turned as her fist hit his jaw, he was propelled backwards a yard or two, she slowly descended, panting, one hand clutched around her ribs. He charged and a hit and counter routine flared into life. He smirked to himself, her hits were slow and she could not avoid his for much longer, she backed her against the edge, she ducked under his arm and tripped him, he saved himself from falling and spun around, she was waiting, he realised she was too injured to attack any more. He scowled, rather disappointed.  
  
Nokia braced herself as he charged, she was certain this would end it, she ducked anyway, rolling onto her back and kicking upwards. He shot into the air as she rolled away.  
  
Vegeta flipped over and brought his fist down where she had been a split second ago, she was struggling to her feet across the arena, he waited until she was standing then charged. This time she was too slow, he sweep kicked her and grabbed both her ankles, throwing her with brutal force that demonstrated his annoyance out of the ring  
  
Nokia yelped as the ground leapt up to meet her, jarring the breath out of her. She ignored the offers of help from attendants and got slowly to her feet, she limped back up into the arena and extended her hand to the saijin prince. He blinked then took it, smirking widely  
  
"You lasted a while for such a weakling" he hissed, she smirked and shook her head. Still refusing help to leave the arena  
  
Piccolo took her arm as she stepped inside, scowling at the attendants, the crowds were half way between booing and awe, they settled for cheering instead. She blinked at him as he pulled her away  
  
"Dende wants to see you" she scowled  
  
"Get off me" she growled  
  
No amount of convincing would make her come and forcing her did not seem like the best idea, at least not when there were so many people to see it. He gave up  
  
Authors note: just fillin' in time here, we all know the fight against Vegeta and Goku will be spectacular so I'm gonna skip to a few weeks later now, k?  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Matters of the heart  
  
Miko sat on the Capsule Corp lawn with Sheme sitting on her lap, three weeks after the tournament which had been real fireworks show in the final round ending in a rather anti climatic tie, for the first time she was allowed to go outside. She had decided to stay with Bulma now that she was no longer scared of Vegeta (not that she had ever really been, she told herself) She had spent basically all her time escaping, but always getting caught, normally be Vegeta, it was not a pleasant experience to be hauled back into a room that was slowly driving you insane by a man of easily ten time your strength who thoroughly enjoyed beating the crap out of her. She smiled as Sheme shifted slightly; they had often spent afternoons just gazing at the clouds before the Z fighters invaded on their plans. She grinned at the picture her little brother had done for her  
  
"It's great Sheme, but maybe you should give Mr Hercule some more muscle, I don't think sticks count as arms" Sheme was actually a highly advanced drawer, being able to draw, sketch and shade better than a trained nineteen year old, but when he did not like some one he was drawing, he chose to make them look like anorexic cows, or worse.  
  
"He hurt you though" he said stubbornly, Miko laughed  
  
"No I was faking, it's not nice to humiliate people, so I decided to make it look like it was hard for me"  
  
"Trunks said you were evil" she blinked then grinned  
  
"Why did he say that?" he wriggled around to face her  
  
"Because you did this weird black blast thing" she grinned, not wanting him to know the truth of it  
  
"It was an accident, I made a mistake, I didn't know it was going to do that" He smiled  
  
"I knew Trunks was wrong" with that he went back to drawing a bone thin dog with a purple mushroom cut.  
  
Bulma smiled, it was good to see Sheme spending more time with Miko after so long. She spent her days spending time with him, mostly like this. And when she went back to work no doubt she would find a way to spend just as much time with him. She smiled again. Sheme was really a very sweet boy, and Miko was a different person around him, so much quieter, more mature, and definitely happier, she still avoided Vegeta though when he was dragging her back from another escape attempt it was not a pretty sight. Bulma grinned again, Vegeta was so afraid he'd hurt her, (not that he cared if she died or lived, it was just Bulma had him on orders, and no one, no one, crossed her when she had her mind made up) that he end up taking blows from all sides because usually if he caught a fist or a hand he risked breaking it with even a tiny grip. She grinned as Sheme suddenly came sprinting inside, grinning so much like Miko when she truly smiled I was hard to believe they were not biologically related.  
  
"BULMA!! LOOK WHAT I MADE FOR YOU!!" Bulma backed away from the door frame to avoid being bowled over, Sheme was a lot stronger than the average kid, she had a feeling Miko had a lot to do with that. He skidded to a halt brandishing a few pages. She took them curiously  
  
"Miko said I should show them to you" he said breathlessly, Bulma glanced at Miko and saw she was lying stretched out on the grass  
  
Sheme handed "aunty Bulma" the papers, she gasped as looked at them, then collapsed laughing as she got to the last one  
  
"These are brilliant Sheme" she told him  
  
"I especially like the dog" he grinned; she didn't know, he thought gleefully. Bulma smiled again as she regained her balance  
  
"Let's put these on the fridge"  
  
Miko felt herself drifting off to sleep, she was jolted awake by something digging into her side, she blinked as Vegeta's face came into view, he was shoving her as gently as was possible for Vegeta with the toe of his boot  
  
"Wake up woman!' he growled, she grinned, seeing the night sky  
  
"Let me guess? You aren't allowed to start without me?" she was answered by a loud rumbling. He scowled as she got up as slowly as she possibly could, partly because any sudden movements still hurt, but more because she wanted to annoy Vegeta. He growled and stalked away  
  
Bulma looked up as Miko entered slowly. She grinned as Vegeta eyed the food, Trunks' hand were already heading for the nearest bowl. Miko took her seat and half the food on the table disappeared as if by magic. Bulma smiled as Miko paled, the girl had thrown up every time she had eaten with them, at first Bulma had been worried about some sort of eating disorder, but Miko had clarified it was the saijins' eating habits, something about seeing a bread roll half chewed in an unhinged jaw with several unrecognisable eatables that made her feel queasy. Bulma later found out that in he time chamber with Goku and later Gohan she had barely eaten at all, growing bone thin because she could not bring herself to eat something with a pair of saijins with front end loaders for mouths.  
  
Miko picked at her food, trying to ignore the sounds of eating coming from all sides. Sheme's table manners weren't great, he still ate without his fork on the occasional copy-cat session when he was looking at Trunks or Vegeta but she could at least stand to look at him when he ate. She grinned weakly when he grinned at her through a full mouth. She could feed her face as disgustingly as the next human but the saijins took it to a whole new level.  
  
Sheme frowned as Miko took small mouthfuls, it was not like her to not eat much he knew she was a model now and Robert kept telling her to watch her figure but she had never listened to him before.  
  
It was an uneventful evening by Miko's standards, Tien came around to check on her as had become his bi weekly custom, they would always spend an hour catching up, things had eased up between Yamcha and her, which had not been her intention. She was currently curled up in an armchair in her room reading with Sheme, the kid was bright, very bright. He could read as well as Trunks and was at the head of his class, which just happened to be one below Trunks and Goten, even though biologically he was two grades down. He and Goten were good friends, sharing in their good-natured play, but Trunks on the other hand was less of a friend. Miko knew they got along but she did not particularly like the boy, he had an attitude problem, she didn't blame Vegeta though there was no one else it could have come from, she simply did not like it, but since they lived in the same house and she was not too motherly in these areas she just kept reinforcing decent values and spent as much time as she could with him, she was trying to make up for the three months they lost.  
  
Bulma smiled as she passed Miko's door, it was amazing how tender she was with Sheme, her fiery temper and general delinquent attitude she saw when she first met Miko was nowhere to be seen, she not once heard Miko swear around Sheme, though he picked it up in the end.  
  
Miko felt her ribs healing every day and gradually got back into training, she used the gravity room, building up from one to a hundred over a few weeks, she had another three weeks off, Robert said he did not want to see her if she looked as much of a mess as she had when she fought in the tournament. She still found herself thinking of Tien and wondering what might have happened had she not been the person she was. She closed her eyes and rose into the air, landing with a thud on the Capsule Corp. It was night and there was a slight chill in the air. She blinked and realised Trunks was already there  
  
"Going somewhere?" he said accusingly, his eyes narrowed. She smirked  
  
"Up here actually" he scowled  
  
"Yeah right, prob'ly off to kill some innocent people" she frowned  
  
"What are you talking about?" he jumped to his feet  
  
"You're evil!" he hissed  
  
"I know it!" she started to laugh, quietly at first, then so much she fell over, hitting the roof with a thud she knew would wake Vegeta. She couldn't stop herself, all the while he was pointing at her. She dried her eyes and looked as him  
  
"Is this because I scared you with the flies? I've been doing that for years" she chortled. He scowled  
  
"No" even in the dark she could see him blush  
  
"I was just messing with you" she told him. He grinned in a way that reminded her strongly of Goku  
  
"Yeah well, you're pretty scary, so you must be evil" she giggled, hearing thuds that could only be Vegeta's  
  
"Only when I'm mad"  
  
Trunks wondered if she was just lying, but he had always been able to tell if some one was lying, like the time he asked his mother about the birds and the bees when he was four and she had told him a pack of lies, he then went to his father, who told him straight, which had surprised his mother greatly, they had gotten along better all week. He sat down again as she drew up her knees  
  
"You like to be tough don't you?" she asked, her voice was quiet, he could still hear his father's cuss words at being woken  
  
"Yeah, I am tough. Dad says when he dies I'll be the greatest warrior in the universe" he smiled at this, a step away from belittlingly, just a step  
  
"I bet you will be, I can barely keep up with you now" he grinned  
  
"Yeah but I sensed your power at the tournament, everyone did, it was as big as Gohan's, no one talks about it, why would you hide a power like that and why can you shoot black energy" he said the last sentence threateningly. She frowned  
  
"Was it that big? Well to be honest Trunks I wasn't actually in control of myself when I shot it, it wasn't my energy, I don't have dark ki, I have blue ki" she turned her palm upwards and a small sphere of ordinary blue ki grew out of it  
  
"See, and I have no idea how to power up, Goku told me I did once before then passed out, but I have no memory of it at all, I think it has something to do with emotions, ki is linked to emotion, I didn't want to kill all those people, so I guess I kinda called on something without thinking"  
  
"But who was controlling you?"  
  
Miko grinned, this kid was smarter than he looked, she did not want to go telling him the full story but then again to put him at ease would mean most of the Z fighters  
  
"An evil force, who is coming to destroy earth, Goku and your Dad decided they wanted me to help, that's why they found me in the first place" The kid scowled  
  
"My dad could beat anybody without any help at all"  
  
Vegeta smirked and went back to bed  
  
Miko heard a single footstep and grinned  
  
"I know" she then went to bed.  
  
More content than she had been in a long while  
  
*  
  
Miko awoke to find a smiling face staring at her. She blinked as Sheme whacked her with a pillow  
  
"WAKE UP!!" He yelled, jumping up and down on the bed beside her, she groaned and shielded her face from the onslaught that was quickly joined by Trunks, who thoroughly enjoyed this game. She started to shriek, dodging and trying to get past them, they had surrounded her. Sheme used to play this game with her when she told him they had to get up early, he would always get up long before he was meant to and beat her awake with her own pillow. She yelped as one caught her braised from Sheme, who happened to be a master in such areas, she grabbed another pillow and began to clout them both, chasing them off her bed and out of her room. The door opened just as they ran for it and they both ran headlong into Vegeta. Miko groaned and shut the door.  
  
Vegeta scowled and caught each of the boys before the scruff of the neck and hauled them off their feet. He took the squirming pair and threw them both outside and went back to bed.  
  
Trunks giggled and started beating Sheme with the pillow still in his hands. A rather loud war that resulted in a still sleepy Miko tipping a bowl of water on them from the third floor. Trunks was surprised to find Sheme beat him hands down, the boy was as much of a strategist as Miko, he had seen Miko fight and through his father's training could see her brilliant strategies, obviously her little brother took after her. He also knew that Miko was no match for his father, he had seen her get her butt whooped at the tournament, though it had been fun to see her beat Hercule, but she could have humiliated him a lot more. He pulled his sopping hair out of his eyes to see Sheme climbing the side of the house to get to Miko who was still leaning out the window, laughing her head off. Sheme climbed like a monkey, and had yet to find anything besides the smoothest of the most vertical he could not scale.  
  
Miko grinned as Sheme approached, she leapt back from the window as he jumped inside, soaking wet and dying to make her the same. She laughed and jumped right out the window, dodging around him, at odd moments mostly in the mornings they were more like brother and sister, playing like the kid he was and the child she had never been. She heard him descending after her, she shrieked as Trunks tackled her, it hurt a bit  
  
"Oh so you want to join the fun too eh?" she chuckled and grabbed both his wrists and pinned him, at that exact moment Sheme jumped on her from behind, locking his arms around her neck. She could only shriek as they ganged up on her.  
  
Tien landed to see what he thought was Trunks and Sheme wrestling, but the shrieks and protests alerted him Miko's presence, that and her bare feet sticking out from where Trunks had pinned her. He laughed and freed her, only to have them attack him as well  
  
"Ok, ok enough" Miko choked out through her giggles. Trunks and Sheme whined a bit  
  
"Go inside before you make the rest of us soaking wet too" She indicated her clothing, it was very wet and clung to her. Her long thin pyjama pants were sticking to her and half way back to front from her tousle in the mud, her shorn hair was pretty much plastered all over her head with water and mud and her thin shoestring top was revealing more than she would like. She folded her arms at Tien, who was blushing as well as grinning stupidly  
  
Tien averted his eyes as she led him into the house, leaving him with Trunks and Sheme who were now dry and tucking into breakfast while she got cleaned up. He was careful to avoid getting jumped on; they were both spoiling for a good Saturday morning brawl. H grinned as Miko reappeared in less revealing apparel. She had on long dark blue jeans that hung off her hips and flared at the knee and a strapless top with a light shirt over that. She grinned as his glaze flicked over her. He blushed but she did not mention it, normally she would hit a guy or scare the hell out of him. He wondered why She sat down at the table opposite him and grinned  
  
"So what's been happening?" He recounted odd bits of news for a while a while before going outside for a while  
  
"Hey listen, maybe you should come back to Kame house in a little while" her face darkened a little  
  
"I mean, because here, well, you see, here, you have to deal with Trunks and Vegeta, and even Sheme, so training would slow down, and we need you in peak shape" he knew she understood  
  
"Yeah, I see your point, but I don't want to leave Sheme again. It isn't fair on him, I'm practically never around anymore. And besides, Yamcha" her voice tailed away  
  
Miko was busy contemplating the pros and cons of such an action, she did not yet have Vegeta's household in her grasp but she somehow doubted whether it would be worth it. She also knew it would cut down her time with Sheme. She looked up to see an odd expression on Tien's face  
  
"Ok, in a few weeks" she said. His face lit up for a second  
  
"Great!"  
  
They spent the day mucking around, playing with Sheme and Trunks and in Miko's case, trying to annoy Vegeta. Tien was unsure as to why he found himself so drawn to Miko, she was seventeen, though she never gave that impression, and even though he was certain she was not who she appeared he could not fight his emotions. He often wondered if she felt the same way. Certainly they spent time together, and it could be considered intimacy of a sort but it could also be a brother-sister sort of relationship. He just did not know, Miko was unreadable and unpredictable  
  
Miko sighed as she leaned on Tien, she was now certain he had feelings for her that were more than physical. Suddenly she felt a jolt  
  
  
  
"Gods, what is it I'm feeling?"  
  
*  
  
Tien sat on the roof of Kame house thinking about Miko, he thought of all the times he had seen her in moonlight and smiled. She was so unpredictable, one minute it was as though she was on the verge of, he wasn't sure, and the next she was as if nothing at all had happened, as if she had felt nothing. He sighed; he could not get over her and doubted he ever would. He wanted her so badly it was intoxicating  
  
"You drive me crazy Your touch makes me want you Like I've never wanted anything in my life I hate the way you make me feel Scared of what you would say If I told you Would you love me too?  
  
Tell me please before I go insane If you love me Tell me so Don't push me away Just let me know  
  
You put me through hell Your face shines to me Through the hell you reserved especially for me What must I do? To prove that I love you  
  
Are you really the person I know?  
  
Are you really that cold hard emotionless person? I only see her ever now and again  
  
Is it you?  
  
How can it be? But you make all things possible  
  
To save the world To save your soul Let me keep you  
  
Let me put you away in the little cell of my heart And keep you safe for all eternity Do you have a heart room for me? Or is it a prison waiting for me To wander blindly in So you can lock me away for all eternity In my own personal hell Just for me  
  
Do you hate me enough to hurt me like this? Do you love me enough to show me your soul? Tell me please  
  
Do you even have a heart? I can't find it Please let me in Let me see you To see the real you I can't love a shell I can't love a porcelain doll I can only love you  
  
Give me your love Give me your heart  
  
I won't break it in two"  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
A?N: time flies when you're having fun does it not. And now I feel I must make mention of a certain author. Gotenks. Being the one and only person to review me so far. As telling as this is about my story. I would like reviews so I know what I'm doing wrong. So, if you want to be a nice and cool person like Gotenk_4_ever.. REVIEW!!! 


	11. I'm still waiting on those fries!

A/N: It only gets worse from here on in people. Ehehehehehehehehe..  
  
Maybe I'd be nicer if somebody would review me  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Sacrifice-pain and decisions.  
  
Miko sighed as she shouldered her bag, it was stuffed to bursting with approximately half her possessions. She was leaving most of her outfits at Bulma's as she would be there a lot anyway. She sighed again as Sheme entered, dragging his teddy bear behind him. She had stopped at their hole of a house and picked up his stuff for him, his toys and such. She smiled sadly as he jumped on her unmade bed and snuggled under the covers  
  
"Do you really have to go?" he asked dolefully. Miko grinned and slipped in beside him  
  
"You'll see me every day, you just won't be able to beat me up with a pillow" he grinned at this but his expression shifted back to his glum face  
  
"Can I come with you?" she smiled sadly and shook her head. How she loved the red haired boy and his innocent affection. He had no idea what she was really like. She tenderly ruffled his hair  
  
"I need somebody to keep Vegeta in line for me, you up for it?" she knew Vegeta would not hurt Sheme, and the kid was fast, especially when exiting the scene of a crime.  
  
Sheme sniffed, he did not want his big sister to go, she was so much fun and they had their own world, she was not like a mother, but he listened to her, she understood him better than anyone else, aunty Bulma was nice but Miko was better  
  
"And who will beat up Trunks if I'm not there?" His face brightened  
  
"Ok, but you have to promise to come here every day" he told her sternly. She grinned and nodded, giving him a quick hug before jumping up again and whacking him with a pillow  
  
*  
  
Tien grinned at Miko as she came out to him. She did not look in any state to fly. He found her flying abilities fluctuated so much it was dangerous for her to fly. She did anyway though, he had not mentioned it again but decided it would be better if she stopped hurting herself all the time. She waved to Sheme who stood in the door  
  
"Ready?" she sighed sadly and nodded. By mutual agreement he lifted her off the ground by the back of her knees and the middle of her back as she placed her arms around his neck. He shot away. Leaving Sheme to wave them good-bye  
  
Miko fought tears. She cursed herself; she did not know why she was so sad. She leaned into Tien's bulk and found it surprisingly comforting, his arms tightened around her to become more like an embrace than a simple hold. She said nothing, breathing into his collarbone  
  
Tien blinked as she leaned against him, he could feel her ki going lower. She was sad, and he knew it was genuine. He tightened his hold on her slightly as the island came into view. She shifted slightly and he rearranged his grip to what it was earlier.  
  
Miko smiled a little at Yamcha, he had forgiven her it seemed. Her plan had not been going so well. But at this point she was not sure if she wanted it anymore. At this point all she could think about was the peace she was leaving behind. She was still on painkillers for her ribs and she had another week before returning to work.  
  
She headed upstairs to her room without a word and dumped her bag. She collapsed on the familiar bed and felt tears well up inside her. She shoved them down. More and more often she wanted to cry. She lay there for maybe three hours before unpacking her things then going straight to bed, even though it would be hours until dark.  
  
Tien stuck his head around the door to see Miko fast asleep, her eyes were puffy he was certain she had been crying. He smiled a little; she was slowly opening up.  
  
Life returned to normal after that. Though Miko went to see various people more often, training with Goku and Gohan every once in a while and Tien and Yamcha the rest of the time. Her power was growing, albeit slowly. This did not bother her, she knew she would never catch up to the others, they were so beyond her, but she had her wits and cunning, and they had never let her down in the past. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was lying on the sand underneath the full moon in little more than a sarong. It was getting to summer so the nights were hot. She sighed and wondered about who she was. She heard footsteps and saw Tien standing above her. She blushed and pulled the sarong over her bra, she noticed it shone silver in the moonlight. He just grinned and sat down next to her  
  
"Thinking?" he asked as if he had not just seen her state of undress  
  
"Something like that" she murmured. Tien grinned again, every time he saw her the more he was convinced of how gorgeous she was. She sat up suddenly, the thin piece of cloth falling away  
  
"Tien, why does nobody trust me?" there was such hurt in her eyes he could not tell her the truth, instead he pulled her against him in a gentle hug, she did not resist, her skin warm against his bare chest.  
  
"They do, Miko, it's just, you act a little strange sometimes" she tensed and tried to pull away, he suddenly realised how tightly he had been holding her and opened his arms. She stared at him through a hurt expression. Neither said a word  
  
Miko knew he was trying to soften the truth. She had already known the answer, she had convinced herself it was just another game but the hurt was too real, she told herself it was part of her plan  
  
  
  
"Screw the plan! If you like him don't screw with his head! You'll lose him!"  
  
"Shut up! Where did that voice come from?"  
  
"Admit it, you like him! You like him! You like him!" she silenced the war inside her by standing up and walking inside.  
  
Tien sighed and sank into thought. He wondered whether anything she did was real. The only things he could be sure of about her was that he was falling head over heels for her and that Sheme was the only one she loved. Suddenly he felt a presence and looked behind him to see Miko standing there. She was in a thick white jersey that appeared to glow silver as her bra had in the moonlight and a pair of track pants and a baseball cap. Her face was, tense? Afraid? Nervous seemed to be the word  
  
Miko took a deep breath  
  
"You wanna go get something to eat?" she asked as casually as she could, Tien seemed to start, he swallowed then smiled, almost in relief  
  
"Yeah, why not" Miko blushed, noticing him do the same, he rose into the air, supporting her by her forearm, she smiled, holding onto the hard muscles of his lower arm, noticing just how much wider the girth of his muscle was next to her own. This made her slightly uneasy. She pulled the baseball cap off her head and plonked it on his, he grinned; it covered his third eye exactly  
  
"Perfect" she called over the wind force, Satan city came into view. Tien brought her down to land in the outer extremities of the city, she linked her arm in his, containing a laugh and they marched down the street, both biting their tongues to hold back hysteria that had welled up out of nowhere  
  
Miko bit into her hamburger  
  
"It's been a while since I had one'a these" she said through an extremely tasty mouthful, Tien was looking uncertainly at his  
  
"How do you get it in your mouth?" he asked, Miko smiled  
  
"You open it, and shove as much as you can in then bite, then you chew and then you swallow then you bite some more because it's really tasty" she mumbled the last word as she pushed more of the tower of bread, meat, relish, and lettuce between her small jaws, somehow fitting a remarkably large amount in. Tien shrugged and copied her action; it wasn't half bad. He grinned, trying to chew with his mouth so full he could barely keep it closed. Miko collapsed laughing, setting what was left of her's in its box on the park bench  
  
"Here" she took a napkin and wiped his chin where mayonnaise had run down in a warm line, she smiled as her touch sent a jolt through him  
  
"All betta'" she said lightly  
  
"Not bad" he said approvingly, swallowing the last of his mouthful  
  
"Robert keeps telling me to "watch my figure now" but since I'm training I have to eat heaps. Last night all I dreamed about was huge piles of junk food, mountains of fries and towers of burgers" she pretended to drool, swallowing the last piece of burger, she patted her stomach  
  
"Straight to the hips" she said, satisfied. Tien shrugged as finished his burger  
  
"Just how much do you guys eat? I mean I hardly eat with you so I wouldn't know" Tien grinned widely  
  
"A lot, when we were on King Kai's planet-"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well we got to go there when we died-"  
  
"You died" she raised an eyebrow  
  
"We got wished back, but because we spent our lives defending earth we got to train"  
  
"How'd you get wished back?"  
  
"With the dragonballs"  
  
"Oh yeah, Bulma gave me this huge database to read, I'm halfway through it"  
  
"Then you'll know quite a bit already"  
  
"Yeah now continue"  
  
"Yeah well Goku is famous for eating enough to make the average elephant explode in five minutes, and anyway me Yamcha Chou zu and Piccolo were up there training, and King Kai would make us some killer food, but we trained so hard that we had to eat almost as much as Goku would here on earth, and that's a lot of food, King Kai would get so angry at us when we left none for him, man, I've never would have thought a blue guy could turn dark purple, I swear he nearly killed us, of course Piccolo doesn't eat, but between us we ate in a day what would have filed the average saijin for a week, and that is a lot of food"  
  
"Wow, How much food are we talking?" Tien thought for a second  
  
"Well, can you imagine a really, really large." they sat there for two hours, swapping stories  
  
Miko smiled tiredly, as she slipped through the door, she heard a yawn behind her and turned to face Tien  
  
"Goodnight" she whispered, he nodded, on impulse she kissed full on the lips before disappearing upstairs, leaving him frozen in place  
  
Tien heard a chuckle  
  
"Was that Miko I just heard?" Yamcha's voice whispered, Tien blushed furiously and lay down on his sleeping mat, regulating his breathing so as to appear to be asleep, he heard Yamcha chuckle again and then there was silence except for the occasional tiny thud from upstairs where he assumed Miko was busy stretching as she did every night, she said it got her nicely tired  
  
Miko was in fact climbing onto the roof; she loved to watch the moon from up there. She sat cross-legged for a while before slipping back inside, taking off her dressing gown and falling asleep underneath the covers of her bed  
  
*  
  
Tien woke at dawn as usual, he got up and went for a shower; they were much better for waking up than a swim in an icy lake. When he left the bathroom he found Yamcha grinning at him  
  
"You dog" Tien blushed and scowled, sidestepping Yamcha and heading outside. What he saw made him want to face Yamcha instead  
  
Miko was busy training, she had a shoot tomorrow and she wanted some stress relief, she saw Tien and froze, aware of how little she was wearing. Her top half was covered by a jogging top and she was wearing mid thigh length lycra shorts that sat about her hips. She blushed furiously then went back to punching a pretend person. Moving as fast as she could  
  
Tien gulped and stepped onto the sand, she would be training all day by the looks of it, he became aware of why she was wearing such little clothing, it was sweltering outside. He rose into the air  
  
"Feel like a training match?" he asked casually, she looked up as if just seeing him  
  
"Morning" she said brightly  
  
"Sure, just don't break me in half, I can't have to many bruises, Robert said he'd come down and shoot you all if I came in with any more "ugly marks" make up can only do so much" Tien blushed a little then grinned. He took a fighting stance, digging his feet into the sand, she steadied herself and charged, flipping right over his head before driving both fists into the base of his neck, he sank downwards to minimise the impact, she smirked as she landed nearby, Tien grinned, she had a vast array of imaginative move combinations nobody else would ever have thought of, he made a note to steal a few.  
  
Yamcha smirked as they went at it for the ninth time, he supposed she was just relieving the tension and he was just keeping the hell out of her way. Poor guy, Yamcha thought; his heart went out to Tien, he had found himself a real firecracker of a girl to fall for, though he had a feeling neither was going to admit it for some time  
  
Authors note: Umm, really at this point even I have no idea what Miko's plan is  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Affairs of the heart-my love calls me, and I push him away  
  
Miko sat with her chin on her hands. She was passing the time during her lunch break, she had an hour. Suddenly she decided to take Sheme out of school for a while and give him a treat. She saw him every afternoon and on the weekends but it still felt like she was only visiting instead of taking care of him. She popped the capsule for her custom made Samurai bad girl motor cycle, it was sleek and a dark shade of green, almost black. She loved it. It was not the average air bike, it ran off a pollution free engine that still made the noise, but not too much, it was on wheels simply because Miko wanted it that way, but it could be run above ground as well but it did not seem worth it. Bulma had given it to her so she could get around the city, it was not for off road travelling so she could not use it anywhere else, but it was still fun. She threw her leather-covered leg over the perfectly fitted seat and half draped her body over the front, it was designed so the rider leant forward over a rest. The reason being this was a speed bike, the speed bike. She pressed her thumb to the start button and grinned as the engine roared into life. With her now shoulder length hair whipping everywhere she laughed and joined the traffic.  
  
Sheme sighed and glared at his book, lunchtime would be coming up in real soon, he was a little sad because he could not see his sister all the time and the fact that he did not like maths all that much added to his boredom. He jumped as the bell clanged loudly. The class emptied at the speed of light, literally.  
  
Miko spun the bike in a 90-degree skid and smirked, it had taken her a day to gain complete control over her toy. She sat up straighter and placed the helmet over her head; she could not set a bad example for Sheme, the bell rang and kids began to pour out of the building. She brought one knee to rest in front of her and scouted about for Sheme's distinctive head. She suddenly saw a spec of red and grinned  
  
Sheme saw the kids around him gasp and whistle in awe. The reason was waiting at the gates of the playground, he laughed out loud when he saw Miko's bike, she loved it, as soon as she figured out how to use it hey had gone on a joyride round the city. She was clad in all leather and her hair hung loose and wild on her shoulders. She waved and he ran up to her. She pulled the helmet from her had and grinned at his flushed face  
  
"How does the greasiest American fast food joint sound kid?" she asked. He laughed  
  
"Yeah!" she grinned and tossed him the second helmet hidden in a side compartment  
  
"I'll just go let your teachers know"  
  
Principal Kiwai looked up and jumped, standing before him was the most attractive woman he had seen in his whole life, clad in leather with a bike helmet under her arm and her wild green hair all around her face she looked like a character out of a movie, one he would very much like to see  
  
"May I help you?" he asked mildly, averting his eyes from her body and back up to her face  
  
"I'm taking Sheme Faski out for an hour, sorry if he's late back" she did not ask just stated  
  
"Miko Faski?" he asked disbelievingly. She shrugged and nodded  
  
"My, I must introduce myself, your scores on the home schooled exit tests were records, no one has beaten them since" she shrugged  
  
"I never knew that, see ya" and then she was gone. He blinked, wondering if that had actually happened. He opened his copy of Vogue to see none other than a green haired goddess on a two-page spread wearing a long flowing toga with flowers through her hair and a golden bow and arrow.  
  
"Beautiful" he murmured  
  
Sheme was busy warding off the kids, they were not meant to leave the gates but the site of the magnificent cycle was too much for most of them  
  
"Is it your Sheme?" he grinned  
  
"My sister's"  
  
"You mean the girl who just walked into the school?" it was an older boy who asked, the school catered for ages six to fourteen. He nodded  
  
"She's hot!"  
  
Miko smirked and shook her head. She pushed through the crowd gathering around her bike and swung her leg over, she offered Sheme a gloved hand and helped him up onto the high semi passenger seat.  
  
"Got your helmet on?"  
  
"Yes!" he half yelled. She revved the engine and few times as he placed his arms around her waist. She smirked to herself. The tyres squealed and they disappeared in a cloud of dust.  
  
As promised the greasiest of food was on the menu. Sheme thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled, Miko did not spend huge amounts of money on him. He had never thought of her as a caregiver, and therefore did not expect lots of free stuff, rather more as a special friend, a protector maybe. He grinned as he chomped his way through his second burger  
  
Tien came around that day. Miko found herself tense and edgy around him. She was unsure why but she was not comfortable sitting next to him as she had once been. She scolded herself for her weakness, she should not care. Not one bit. If she started to care then putting her plan into it's final stages would be too hard, then she would go mad, well the madness would get her. She moved an inch away from Tien, he frowned but said nothing. She could tell he was confused though  
  
Authors note: seeing a pattern to Miko's behaviour forming? Well you won't find out for ages and ages and ages  
  
Chou!  
  
The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages.  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Fun, freedom and lust-in which order  
  
Tien's eyes widened as she pressed her mouth against his, his whole body tensed. Suddenly she melted away in a flash and a whirl of green hair, leaving him alone with her taste still on his lips. He awoke in a cold sweat  
  
Miko jumped, she had heard footsteps. She heard a knock and murmured a "what?" Tien stuck his head around the door; she was never asleep at this time so he never had to worry about disturbing her.  
  
Tien smiled to see her sitting half under the covers with a book in her hands, she was reading by moonlight.  
  
"Can I come in?" he whispered, she nodded and moved over to give him somewhere to sit, but she went a step further and pulled the covers back, nothing on her face was seductive, it was perfectly innocent, he mentally shrugged and covered himself from the bite the air had, this was unusual considering it was almost summer, but it had been raining most of the day and had generally been a dreary sort of afternoon as well. She shuffled next to him  
  
"Can't sleep?" she said, leaning on him suddenly, he tensed but relaxed as she put her book down  
  
"Neither, but you already knew that" Miko whispered  
  
"Hey Miko?" she smiled  
  
"Hn?"  
  
"About the other day" she tensed, suddenly remembering the way they had both avoided the subject of how she had kissed him.  
  
"What about it?" she said shakily  
  
"Umm, was that a date?" she suddenly grinned and kissed her agonizingly slow way from his chest up to his lips, a few seconds later she pulled away  
  
"I'd say it was," she said smugly, leaning on him again  
  
Tien couldn't breath; she had stolen away every once of sensible thought in him. He wrapped his arms around her  
  
"How about another date then?" he heard her sigh and shift slightly  
  
"Yeah sure, but perhaps we should make it a little less impromptu, if you know what I mean" he grinned and kissed her.  
  
Miko felt her own eyes widen as his lips stole her breath, no one had ever done that to her, taken her power from her. But oddly it did not bother her. After another fiery kiss he left her alone. She sighed and turned over, not realising just how much time had passed as they sat in silence.  
  
*  
  
Miko awoke to find a pile of roses on her bed. Her eyes widened; he was quite the romantic. She allowed herself a moment of indulgence in this new gesture before she pulled herself up for her actions, she could not let him take control, it had to be her in charge. She could not fall for him; it would be too hard when she had to end it. She told herself sternly. But still, it was sweet.  
  
Tien grinned as she came outside with a single rose in her hand, holding it so it rested against her cheek, she was in the white jersey but wearing loose cargo pants this time. He blinked as she came to a halt in front of him  
  
"How does dinner tomorrow night sound?" He smiled  
  
"Great, as long as you aren't cooking" this earned him a clouting with the flower and then a kiss on the cheek, no one else was around so they had the place to themselves. Master Roshi had gone for some kind of meeting, he did not know, and Chou zu and Yamcha to get supplies. He grinned as she turned away.  
  
Miko grabbed her bag and stepped outside, she would be late for work if she did not hurry. Tien was waiting  
  
"Ready to go?" she grinned  
  
"Hurry" *  
  
Bulma frowned at Miko; there was something different about her, a slight bounce in her step and a glow to her kin that she had only seen when she was around Sheme  
  
"You've got a man!" she gasped. Miko stopped short from where she had been tinkering with the laptop Bulma had given her, she was trying to install a new operating system but it was not responding. He green haired girl shrugged  
  
"Yeah, so" Bulma squealed  
  
"Come on, who is he?" she interrogated Miko for the next hour but could get nothing out of her  
  
Miko ignored Bulma's probing questions as the computer finally starting being nice. She left it to load and went to pick Sheme up from school  
  
Sheme grinned as Miko turn 90-degree skid as she came to a stop. None of the kids were allowed out of the gates without a parent and if they walked home alone they left through a different exit. People were always admiring the bike when Miko decided to pick him up, at other times he went home with Trunks, but it was always fun zipping along on the back of Miko's bike. It was a few shades darker than her hair and suited her green clothing perfectly, even her helmet was green.  
  
Miko waved as Sheme came rushing towards her. He grabbed the helmet and jumped on, he was getting pretty good at balancing, he hardly ever held onto her now, preferring to use the grips on the back of the seat she had put in place for him. He grinned as they shot away  
  
Trunks saw Sheme shoot away on a really cool bike. He wondered who the driver was and if Sheme was allowed, he slipped round the side of the school and took off.  
  
Miko felt Trunks coming up behind them. She grinned to herself as she flicked the switch, Sheme grabbed her waist and clung to her as a pair of booster engines used for leaving the atmosphere charged up  
  
"Hold on" she called into the intercom in both helmets, in response Sheme's hands tightened around her waist. With a burst of speed along the now open road they shot away, blurred to the naked eye  
  
Trunks blinked; this bike was fast. He increased his speed to catch up. He drew level with the bike and the smaller rider who he knew was Sheme turned his helmeted head. He blinked; Sheme did not wave. As they rounded a corner he realised he was hanging on for dear life, and his saijin ears were picking up laughter. He wondered why the driver had not noticed him yet. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed his collar, he yelped as they skidded to a halt.  
  
Miko pulled her helmet off and released a squirming Trunks  
  
"Long time no see" she said nonchalantly  
  
"Hi" He said nervously  
  
"You want a ride?" she could see his fingers itching to try the magnificent bike  
  
"Ok" he jumped on  
  
*  
  
Bulma heard the roaring engine of Miko's bike and grinned. She came to a halt in the courtyard without her usual stunts, she was pretty good at it really. She grinned as a flushed Trunks jumped off and headed to some unknown place in the house with Sheme, Miko took her time, checking for scratches and such. She encapsulised the beauty and strode over to her  
  
"Hey"  
  
"So you gonna tell me who the mystery man is?" Miko sighed  
  
"You sure you wanna know?" Bulma nodded  
  
"Come on then" she led Bulma inside and told her.  
  
"Oh my God! I always knew he liked you, so what's happening?" Miko shrugged  
  
"Well, we're together I guess, second date tonight" she said through her almost disgusted expression, almost. Bulma was very feminine and girly as Miko would put it, so Miko found it easier to play to her persona, not too much, but enough to get on Bulma's good side, she would never get on well with Vegeta anyway.  
  
"Oh my god! We have so little time! We have to go shopping! And then we'll have to find." Miko sighed; it was gonna be a long after noon  
  
*  
  
Tien landed outside Capsule Corp, he had agreed to meet Miko there, for some reason he was nervous, it was quite strange really, because he knew her pretty well anyway. He shrugged to himself and stuck his hands in his pockets. She always seemed to know when he was around, even though her sense her not that great.  
  
Miko took a deep breath, the outfit was making her nervous. Not even for her job had this much fuss been made over her appearance. Bulma was as gifted with make up as Sally and as creative with hair as Rona, though maybe not with their varied qualifications. She stepped in front of the mirror and gaped. She looked.different. Her upper half was clad in a fitting shoestring top of bright red with a sort of shawl thing around her. She had a tight denim skirt with dolphin designed stitching around the lower hem and one up her left thigh, it had splits that went up to mid thigh. On her throat, wrists and ears were sparkling jewellery. She blinked at her face, artfully done her lips her a golden pink and her eyes were made up with soft light greens. She smiled then pouted. Her hair was in lots of little spirals giving a glossy light refracting bouncy effect, it sat just above her shoulders and looked perfect. She smiled and gave Bulma a quick hug before stepping into her low-heeled shoes and heading outside, grabbing her dark green leather jacket.  
  
Tien's jaw dropped; Miko was standing in the doorway, as usual she looked stunning, but even more so now. She stepped up to him and grinned. His eyes travelled up and down her form more than once. She only grinned and took his arm. As they flew to the city limits his eyes never left her once.  
  
Miko found herself enjoying the way he kept staring at her; it was not often she enjoyed being attractive. She blinked as the wind whipped her hair back. They landed on a building right out of the eyes of people and jumped down. She was glad her skirt had splits in it as she landed like a cat.  
  
"Where to?" Tien asked, still unable to stop staring at her. He himself was dressed in a white shirt and casual loose pants with a cap on to cover his third eye, people tended to get nervous at the sight of it in the city. She smirked and took a capsule from a decorative pocket and threw it on the ground, in a puff of smoke a dark green motorcycle appeared. He grinned; it screamed Miko's name with the sleek style and colour. She threw a leg over and patted the seat behind her. He grinned and seated himself on the comfortable leather  
  
"Hold on" Miko told him, he placed his arms around her waist and sat close to her. She pressed her thumb to the start button and revved the engine. The bike shot forwards.  
  
Tien grinned as the wind rushed by. The bike suited Miko perfectly. He felt her lean forward, to remain holding on, he had never ridden a bike before, he had to lean with her, she did not seem to mind. He realised the bike was travelling faster than any vehicle he had ever head of. The streets blurred by, he did not even feel the turns and twisted as they snaked their way into nightlife side of town.  
  
Miko pulled up outside a restaurant Sally had taken her to once. The food was good and it wasn't too upmarket, so she could avoid the press that followed famous people around, for if she ended up in the same restaurant as some one like Hercule she would never get left alone, especially after the way she had defeated him. Tien jumped off and offered his hand. She noticed how he acted like such a gentleman. She found it rather nice, though she knew she could no take too much of it.  
  
Tien followed her into the building, it seemed like a nice place. They stopped in the foyer while she checked the reservation. He couldn't take his eyes off her. It was hard to believe that this was the same icy teenage girl who got drunk the day they met. Yet it became a lot easier when she snapped at the man at the desk for staring at her. He felt a flash of jealousy and slipped his arm around her waist. She flinched but relaxed. Moving a little closer to him  
  
The man behind the desk quickly averted his eyes, the girl was a babe, and intimidating enough on her own, but the guy was worse, he could see the muscles beneath the white shirt and the powerful build, the expression was unmistakable as well. From his lower point he saw he arm slip around her waist and saw the possessive vibes. He cleared his throat nervously and began to tap away at the computer  
  
"Y-your table is ready" he said, cringing as they both gave him a glare. But when he saw her golden eyes he knew she was by far the more frightening of the pair. He suddenly realised who she was, Nokia, the smoking hot super model, the one who beat Hercule in the second round of the world martial arts tournament. He gulped; she was definitely the scarier of the two.  
  
Miko smiled warmly at Tien as they followed the waiter to a table in a corner, the restaurant was full of plants and such, a peaceful setting. She noticed he had not removed his arm from around her waist. The waiter stopped at a table and left two menus on it. She smiled and went to seat herself.  
  
Tien grinned, he had meant to be the gentleman as Yamcha had instructed him (though he never did find out how Yamcha had known that a-he was going on a date, and b-just who with, he had also told Chou zu, who had been rather worried) but she had beaten him to it, he decided to go easy on the formal stuff for a bit  
  
"How'd you find this place" Tien asked, looking around, his eyes coming back to rest on her. Miko smiled  
  
"Sally took me here one day" he grinned, his eyes following her as she picked up the menu  
  
"Get whatever, it's my date, so it's my way" she told him from behind the tasselled menu.  
  
Tien shrugged; he was not going to turn down a free meal and Miko didn't sound as if she planned on letting him be the gentleman so far as to pay for the meal, after all, he had seen one of her pay checks, it was more than he believed it was possible to make in a year, let alone a month, and all for doing what she never seemed to be able to stop doing, being absolutely gorgeous.  
  
The waiter who came to serve the pair had heard of who the girl was, though he did not know about the man, he noted with distaste that he had not removed his hat, but said nothing about it. After all, he did not really want to annoy some one with a body like that, and he had been there when Nokia had defeated the world champion. She had come off badly but she had still won. He did not feel like getting beaten up today. He could not help but stare at her though as he approached the table, she was even more attractive in person.  
  
Miko looked up and grinned at the waiter, he immediately smiled back, she could see his eyes moving down from her face.  
  
She narrowed her eyes dangerously. He swallowed. The entire staff was abuzz with excitement that such an elusive star was actually at their restaurant. He had been the lucky one to catch a glimpse of her. Nobody who had seen her was lying; she was mind numbingly stunning. He cleared his throat.  
  
Tien looked up and grinned at Miko, she smiled back and turned her head to the waiter. He had no idea what she ordered but it had a complicated name. He got the house steak and Miko ordered a foreign sounding wine. He raised an eyebrow as the waiter disappeared  
  
"What?" Miko frowned  
  
"You're seventeen" he hissed at her, she shrugged, she had not thought about her age in a long while, it occurred to her for the first time that Tien must be at least five years older than her, most likely more. She shrugged  
  
"So?"  
  
Tien suddenly realised the age gap, she was underage, but then again that was only what she had told them  
  
"You're underage, I could get arrested for letting you drink" he hissed, she started to shake. He realised she was trying not to laugh  
  
"You mean to say," she choked  
  
"That you," she covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently  
  
"Think that you count as responsible for me" she choked the words out before collapsing onto the table in a fit of giggles, Tien frowned  
  
"Well, I didn't think about it before but yes, Miko you are underage, and legally I can't even really date you let alone let you drink" She raised her head, her eyes flashing  
  
"I have been an adult for three years. I have been thought of as one for even longer, this is no time for you to start thinking of me as a kid, I am an adult, whether you like it or not" she said all this in an angry hiss  
  
Miko was now annoyed, he thought of her as a kid, not a woman. She was making over a million a year at the current estimates, how dare he. She could see him shifting uncomfortably  
  
"Yeah I know but-"  
  
"Ok stop" she raised a hand  
  
"If you're going to think of me in terms that you are responsible for me then it ends here" her voice was not loud but it was definite and angry. He stared at her. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.  
  
Tien blinked as she stood up and stalked out. He got up to follow her.  
  
Miko stalked outside and took out her bike capsule, suddenly a hand grabbed her arm she jumped a foot in the air and swung around, her fists ready.  
  
Tien jumped back as she swung around. She exhaled angrily when her eyes fell on him. Neither moved  
  
"Miko I'm sorry," he said quickly  
  
"It's just, can we go somewhere else and talk?" she scowled, but after a second or two she nodded  
  
"You can fly" she told him icily. She decapsulised her bike and swung her leg over. He checked to see if anyone was watching and lifted into the air as she shot down a side street  
  
Miko set the bike on silent and glided through the streets, she could sense Tien behind her. She was not really prepared to speak to him but she had a feeling now that he thought of her as a kid he would not leave her alone. She pulled up by a small parks, every time they went out they seemed to end up at a park.  
  
Tien landed as she swung her leg off the bike and half sat half leaned on the seat. She was glaring daggers at him. He had to hold back yelps as they pierced his thought out speech he had planned on the trip to her chosen place  
  
"Start talking," she said icily. He took a deep breath  
  
"I'm sorry Miko, it's just when I remembered your age, well, I just panicked, you never come across as a teenager at all, but it's like a reality check" she raised an eyebrow, seeing no violent reaction coming he continued  
  
"I feel protective of you, that's all, and I guess that under law I can't let you drink or anything like that, because I am an adult, and however you act, you are not" he had been planning to tell her this seriously but he was crumbling under her glare. Sounding rather pathetic. She was silent for a second, composing her thoughts he supposed, when she did speak it was matter of fact pronouncing her words slowly and with a bite that made him regret his words  
  
"I work. I have. A life. I am. Not. A kid. If I was. I would not be dating some one. Your age." the remark made him realise how much older than her he was  
  
"I am not a kid. I am a woman. I work. Live. And am responsible for a child without a chaperone. Why would I need one now?" He frowned  
  
"Listen I'm sorry" he could think of nothing else  
  
Miko felt her heart soften, no not her heart, her heart did not exist. But something softened. She suddenly felt different being around Tien, as if she were just a kid, She suddenly did not want to touch him, seduce him, excite him as she was so good at. She took a deep breath.  
  
She felt very, not in control.  
  
"Age was never a factor, just treat me the way I expect alright? I have to be independent; I don't want you to think of me that way. If you do you stop treating me the way you did before, and then it stops working"  
  
Tien took a deep breath, she was standing well back, not coming close as he knew she normally would have, she communicated her emotions and thoughts through touch more than words. He sighed; it hurt to know she did not want to be near him, had she not relied on contact in the past it would be different.  
  
Miko watched as he searched for words, she knew him well, well enough to know what he was thinking. She heard him exhale slowly as he looked at his shoes. She shivered, feeling a slight bite to the summer air.  
  
Tien raised his head  
  
"I never thought of you as a kid before, you never seemed like one"  
  
"And now?" He sighed again, shuffling his feet  
  
"I dunno, I guess I panicked. Can we not fight about it? I care about you too much, it's too trivial" She stared at him  
  
"You suddenly start thinking about it now, you make me feel like I can't be the same around you if you're thinking about my age. It's been three years since I had to rely on anyone for anything, and fifteen since I wanted to. I couldn't handle you treating me as if you had to watch out for me. Or look after me, If you feel like you have to look after me then I don't feel the same about you, I can't feel the same about you" He noticed her eyes were suspiciously bright.  
  
Miko found herself fighting tears she had meat only as a show, she did not know why she wanted to cry, she was angry, wasn't she? Or was she hurt?  
  
But nothing hurt; you had to care for something for it to hurt.  
  
Did she care about him?  
  
She had convinced herself it was all part of the game.  
  
But,  
  
Then why did it hurt?  
  
Tien saw her face move through various stages of confusion. She was staring at him on the outside but obviously trying to make sense of her own feelings on the inside. He blinked; he knew her better than he had originally thought. He took a tentative step closer to her, she did not move.  
  
Miko was wondering just what she was feeling, hurt? Need maybe, a need to hold him, to be held, she pushed the thought away disgustedly. Perhaps a need to stop being angry, a need to let someone, someone in. She suddenly realised how close he was. It was oddly calming. She shivered again, more from emotion than cold  
  
Unable to stop himself Tien swept her into a hug, noticing how cold she felt. She did not resist, leaning against him. He kissed the top of her head and tilted her chin to see her face  
  
"I don't think of you as a kid" she tried but failed to scowl  
  
"Then why are you speaking to me as you would a kid, I've had more life experience than you could imagine" He could not argue with that. He leant down to kiss her. She returned it with the fiery surge she seemed to generate, leaving him breathless and grinning stupidly. She smirked and pulled the brim of his cap down so it covered all his eyes. He felt her hands snaking their way around him where they pulled him closer, he felt her body heat increase his own.  
  
He took a breath of air and stared at her from under the cap, he had a tiny line of vision as he worked his eyebrows to move it out of the way. Her face was back to that mischievous smirk that brought tremors of, he was not sure what it was, a mixture of nerves, desire and more than a little physical attraction. He knew that she did it on purpose rather than instinct, but if her intention was to excite him then she had certainly achieved it. He smiled tenderly and touched her cheek. She leaned her head into the contact and her hands tightened around him.  
  
Miko could not understand how she could forgive him so easily. She closed her eyes for a second and ran her hand up to his shoulder blades. Her head found the perfect spot on his shoulder and stayed there. So content in this simply embrace was she, that she did not even remember to be disgusted with herself for it.  
  
Tien sighed. Everything was patched up. It was obvious Miko did not like to be thought of as anything less than completely in control. Yet he could not help but feel protective of her, not because of her age, when he thought about it, she was not a teenager in any sense of the word but more because of what he had felt every time some one had stared at her, every time anyone had felt anything for her. Every time she felt something for some one else. He blinked as she pulled away and threw her leg over the bike  
  
"Coming?" he shrugged, he would have been happy to stay the way they were all night. But he followed her willingly  
  
Miko started the bike on silent mode and headed back the way they came. She chose a low-key club this time, quiet music, and simple food.  
  
"I'm hungry, and I'm not going to waste a night out when I have this much money on me" she grinned at Tien and grabbed his hand  
  
Tien thoroughly enjoyed a relaxed meal with Miko, there were few people there so it was quieter, and seemed to be what they both needed, after another story swapping session (though Miko never seemed to impart much of her history) they headed back to Kame house, it was past mid night when Tien landed and placed Miko on the sand.  
  
Miko reached up and kissed him again before gliding silently upstairs. Angry with herself for forgetting her mission, angry at herself for not stopping herself, angry for not hurting him. Angry at herself for being hurt. Angry with herself for being happy everything had worked out. She shed her clothes and went straight to bed, not bothering to put a pair of pyjamas over her undergarments. Her dreams were an angry swirl of confusion, mixed with anger and helplessness and rage, and bitter sweet.  
  
Love?  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: All uphill from here-what have I done?  
  
Miko awoke to find breakfast on a tray sitting on her bedside table. She scowled; he was so sweet,  
  
Too sweet,  
  
He was making her happy  
  
  
  
  
  
"I'm happy?"  
  
"Yeah you are"  
  
"But I'm never happy, that means I care"  
  
  
  
".So?"  
  
"If I care then that means it'll be impossible to pull off my plan!"  
  
"Screw the plan! Where will it get you?"  
  
"Revenge, that's where!"  
  
"Is that a good thing?"  
  
"It's better than pain, if you let some one past your defences there is nothing to stop them coming too close, what if you went a step further?"  
  
"If you sleep with him that's your problem, just go with it, it's never stopped you in the past, if you don't want to turn up the heat then what purpose does he have?"  
  
"None"  
  
"Except,"  
  
"He makes me happy"  
  
  
  
The battle inside her head raged on as she ate half of what was there, it was still hot, she smiled; Tien wasn't a half bad cook. Coming to no decision she sighed and got up. She pulled a dressing gown over herself and headed for the bathroom for a hot shower and some comfortable clothes.  
  
Tien was busy training as Miko stepped outside, her face was a mixture of happiness and confusion, as though she was not used to such attention. He grinned to himself, he found it highly enjoyable to make her smile, really smile,  
  
She did it more often these days.  
  
*  
  
A few weeks later everyone got together again to catch up, it had become a sort of tradition to do this every once in a while. It became obvious to everyone pretty quickly whom Miko was with. Tien got a lot about it but he could not care less; Miko was more than worth it.  
  
Miko smiled into her drink, it was orange juice with a twist of vodka, Tien had not bugged her once about her drinking and it seemed to have become a non issue, which was good, she had been drinking since age ten and had no intention of giving it up now. She smiled to herself as she thought of the coming week. As usual her work fluctuated a lot and she had nothing on all week, she decided to take Sheme on a trip for a few days. He wouldn't mind missing school for that long. She was also smiling for another reason that no one except herself and Sheme knew about.  
  
Sheme grinned at Tien, he liked Tien, he was glad Tien was Miko's boyfriend. He waved as the triclops came up to him  
  
"Hey Sheme?"  
  
"Yeah?" he dropped the toy car in his hand (he had been busy doctoring the minuscule engine)  
  
"I have a question"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"When is Miko's birthday?"  
  
"You mean you don't know?" he shook his head. Sheme giggled  
  
"She'd get mad if I told you"  
  
"Then you can tell her it's all my fault and I threatened to tickle you if you didn't tell me, she can't be mad for that" Sheme could think of a few reasons she could find. Miko did not get mad often, but strange things annoyed her  
  
This seemed to satisfy the kid in the end  
  
"It's in two days" Tien gulped, that wasn't much time. He shrugged it off and ruffled Sheme's hair  
  
"Thanks Sheme. Listen I need your help with something."  
  
They plotted dastardly schemes for a while before parting to their various tasks, one, dissecting an engine, another, dissecting the mind of a certain super model.  
  
*  
  
Miko felt some one gently shake her awake. She opened her eyes to Tien and then Sheme. She sat bolt upright, her breathing coming in hard ragged gasps as she got over the shock. She turned to Sheme  
  
"What are you doing here?" she narrowed her eyes at Tien  
  
"Happy Birthday!" he cried, throwing something soft and white over her head, She yelped as it blocked her sight. She heard Sheme's giggles and a deep chuckle she assumed was Tien's.  
  
Tien laughed as she finally found her way out from underneath the fur. Her hair was in a tangled mess that was rather comical against her scowl  
  
"Well?" she frowned  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Do you like it?" She pulled the rest of herself out from under what was revealed to be an elaborate fur quilt, double sided, snow white, and very warm  
  
Miko stared at it. It was amazing, perfect  
  
"I love it" she breathed, her eyes wide and a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She smothered them both and began to examine it more closely, asking questions nineteen to the dozen, pausing only to hug them. She found elaborate and beautiful stitching in red and blue just visible under the thick white fur, it was soft enough to use without a sheet and incredibly warm. Summer was in full swing at this point and it had been four moths and two days since the hulking tri clops had swept her of her feet.  
  
Tien grinned stupidly as she kissed him then hugged Sheme  
  
"So you like it then?" she grinned and place one arm around his neck, and the other around Sheme's shoulders  
  
"I love it," she said simply.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: My heart tears, two sides pulling-nothing in between  
  
Miko sat on her bed thinking. There was a knock and Tien entered. She looked up and smiled, standing up to kiss him. He smiled into her lips as her hands made their way to their customary place around him.  
  
A surge of desire ran through Tien as her hands pulled him closer, he could never get used to the way she acted when they were alone, suddenly she pulled away to look at him, her hand taking the front of his shirt and pulled him with her as she lay back down. Suddenly he was afraid, he removed his weight from above her and swallowed  
  
Miko frowned  
  
"What?" he blushed, looking rather afraid  
  
"I've..never." his voice tailed away. She inhaled  
  
"Oh" she smirked seductively  
  
"We can fix that" her hand reached out to pull him closer again. He did not move  
  
"I don't know Miko" he stammered. She suddenly felt hurt but shrugged it off. She had never met a man who had turned her down before, and she was not inexperienced in this area. She smiled; it was actually quite refreshing  
  
"Ok" she nodded  
  
Tien sighed; she still scared him with her forwardness at times. He felt sure she was no virgin, the way she seduced him was far too skilful. But he was glad she did not press it any further, he wanted her, how he wanted her, but he was also afraid, though of what he had had no idea  
  
Miko smiled and settled for kissing him instead  
  
*  
  
Miko felt herself growing more and more attached to Tien. When she went to work her thoughts drifted to his touch and once, just once, she had been accused of day dreaming, ("about who we must wonder" Sally had said) She found herself wishing he was beside her at odd hours of the day. At this point she was busy chomping through a sandwich in a small café on her lunch break. People stared at her from time to time but it did not get to her the way it used to. She was mulling over what to do, however much she found herself craving Tien's kiss, Tien's touch, his sweet natured gestures, the consequences were always nagging at the back of her mind, souring anything they might have truly shared. She often wondered if he had somehow sensed this, maybe this was what made him afraid to take it a step further. She sighed and found no decision come to her mind. Instead she sank back into her hard shell and stopped feeling. But as soon as she saw him her resolve melted like ice over a lit match.  
  
She decided she would just have to extinguish that match then.  
  
*  
  
Tien frowned, looking at Miko carefully, over the past month she had slowly drawn away from him, her manner had become more reserved and much quieter and almost cold to him. He tilted her chin to stare at her expressionless face.  
  
"What's wrong?" He kept his tone gentle, though underneath he was angry, frustrated, and for some reason fighting the urge to hit her. He did not know why though, but something in the way she was acting went deeper than the skin. He knew she was well able to defend herself but if caught off guard by one with possibly twice her strength she would not take a hit to the face and get back up. He blinked as she suddenly pulled away  
  
"Nothing" Miko said quickly, looking anywhere but his face. She was regretting her choice to get involved with Tien, everything was crumbling, he got sweeter every day, forever trying to please her, he never put any pressure on her for anything and worshipped her as if she were the sun and the moon. Her head was at war and her heart was non-existent. She backed away, closing her eyes. This course of action caused her to trip on a table and smack her head on the way down, it did not hurt too much but immediately Tien was beside her, lifting her up and laying her down on the couch, checking for a wound, making sure she was ok. She suddenly felt the urge to slap him, hurt him, anything to make him stop being so sweet  
  
"Stop it!" Tien blinked  
  
"What do you mean?" she sat up, despite his attempts to stop her  
  
"Being so dam sweet! Being so."  
  
"What?" he gently pushed her back down. Placing a cushion under her head  
  
"Stop making me love you!" she yelled the words in his face  
  
As soon as the words left her mouth Miko regretted them, she covered her mouth, he was staring at her, his face a mixture of elation and dejection. Here was nothing she could say to amend what she had done. It was bad in more than one way. She stood up and ran.  
  
Tien shot after her, catching her arm, she was almost jerked off her feet, he helped her back up. She shoved him away. He frowned as she stood at a distance  
  
"What did I do?" He asked. He had no idea how to take her words. She raised her hands, searching for words, and then dropped them in defeat  
  
"I-I, I don't know" she disappeared  
  
Miko flew as far and as fast as she could. What was going on in her head? She landed on her customary spot on a cliff overlooking the sea, near her hometown. She sighed as the sea breeze caressed her face.  
  
Tien rested his head in his hands. He was unsure as to what to do. She didn't want him to be "sweet" as she put it, which he assumed was trying to please her, but she had also said she loved him, in different words though. He stood up and lifted into the air, praying that training would take his mind off her, though it never had in the past. He noticed also that every once in a while Chou zu and Yamcha disappeared. He knew well enough what they thought about his relationship with Miko; that it was, more than it was. But he did not really care. He was certain he loved her; there was no other explanation for the way he felt around her.  
  
Miko sat with her chin resting on her hands, she was thinking in a downward spiral of black confusion. She had no idea what she was feeling or how she was feeling it. But in any case she could not ignore the fact that she had said something she had trained herself to never feel, never think about, never speak of, and never acknowledge; Love. And she had no idea what to do.  
  
Tien spent several hours training, it was nearing night by the time he stopped and went to look for Miko, there was no particular reason apart from the fact he wanted to see her, it was not as if much could happen to her that she couldn't deal with. Her ki was still far too elusive to pinpoint, as elusive as her, it added to her mystic, the same mystic she used to draw him in. He grinned stupidly into the wind as it rushed by.  
  
Miko was currently on her way to Satan city, she felt like a night out, she lived the high life in her other life, she went to cafes, drank the finest of wines, strolled the most expensive of shops, consulted her agent almost every day for what was booked and so on. She suddenly felt Tien's ki and scowled; he was annoyingly possessive about her at odd times, making it known through body language she was spoken for, this annoyed her a little; if she wanted attention she would get it, it wasn't as if he could stop her. She pulled of her coat, it was a thick knee-length black one, the thick material was annoying to fly in. Underneath she wore a very low cut red strapless top. She smirked; she would get noticed in this.  
  
Tien sighed and turned around, she certainly did not want to be found. He shrugged to himself and decided to speak to her as soon as she came back, she always did.  
  
*  
  
Miko grinned as a guy looked her up and down, she caught his chin in her hand and pulled him closer, he swallowed  
  
"You should know," she whispered huskily  
  
"That I" she ran a finger down the centre of his chest  
  
"Am more than you could handle" she pushed him lightly; of course the force threw him off his feet. She stepped over the gaping man and left the nightclub. She had wanted some stress relief and dancing in strobe lighting and a large crowd seemed to have worked; she was not so tense and pleasantly tired, dancing, whomever you were and however much ki you had seemed to tire everyone. She stepped into an alleyway and looked carefully about herself  
  
"Hey sweetie" some one grabbed her from behind. Without a second thought she flipped her would be attacker and swung him into a wall. In the process however part of her top had been ripped, it still covered her but only just, she swore and kicked the man in the ribs, hard  
  
Tien felt Miko's ki surge for a second; he now knew where she was. It fell back to normal immediately and he felt it approach. She was obviously upset about something or she would not be going so accurately or so fast. He seated himself on the couch to wait. Yamcha and Chou zu were long since asleep. They never asked questions about him and Miko unless they were trying to rile her up, they never succeeded. He stood up as she entered, her shirt was ripped almost to the point of indecency and her hair was ruffled out of the newest style, thanks to the speed with which her hair grew it had a new cut every few weeks. He strode over to her, stepping over the sleeping forms of Chou zu and Yamcha. She glanced at him and headed straight for the stairs  
  
Miko scowled as Tien caught her arm  
  
"Can we talk?" he hardly ever told her what to do anymore, but his grip and his face told her this was not a request  
  
"Later, I'm tired" his grip tightened  
  
"No, now" she narrowed her eyes  
  
"You don't want to annoy me right now" she said, allowing the lethal edge beneath her skin to come through  
  
Tien swallowed but held his ground; her tone was quiet, and terrifying  
  
"Now" he repeated. Her eyes narrowed to slits, the golden pupils seeming almost to glow in the moonlight coming from the windows. He sighed and let go  
  
"This isn't over Miko," he told her  
  
Miko closed her door and collapsed onto the bed. She had no idea what she was meant to do now. She suddenly smirked, her darker thoughts filling her mind.  
  
*  
  
  
  
"Kill, kill, taste the blood, it's sweet flavour, kill, kill, kill, hurt, pain, kill, kill, kill" Tien looked about him, a voice he knew terrifyingly well was hissing in his ear  
  
"Let me rip, let me tear, taste the flesh, feel the death, inflict pain, feed off the suffering"  
  
Suddenly Miko was beside him, he turned to her. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and her mouth was curled into, not any smile he had ever seen, he suddenly saw a streak of crimson on her lips, it slowly ran down past her chin and landed with a small splat on the black ground beneath them. He blinked, suddenly noticing sharpened teeth showing over her lower lip. She licked her upper lip. He backed away, suddenly he impacted something else, he swung around to see another Miko, her face was tired and her eyes sad. He blinked, looking closely at her. She was bone thin, all her ribs showing, and her face taut and pinched. He could see nothing but sadness in her face. He was suddenly afraid. He swung around to find himself confronted by another, the Miko he knew, her face was content and relaxed, her smile as sparkling as it always was. He was suddenly aware of more than one presence. He slowly turned around to find a countless Mikos surrounding him. The ones he had already seen and two others were most definable. One was filthy, her long hair matted, Her face was confused and angry, she was holding her head. And the other, the other. He could not breath. He took a stumbling step back as she advanced. Her eyes were steely, more terrifying than he had ever seen. Cold and hard, she had a dagger in one hand and a blood red rose in the other; suddenly both of these began to bleed. The circle around him dissolved into a swirling crimson and blue ocean. He saw a flash of green hair and swam after it. He trailed the green spec for what felt like an eternity, suddenly he was sucked underneath the surface. He flailed and struggled. He saw the bottom and gaped; Miko was lying there, he eyes open and staring, her face pulled into a silent scream. He swam down, trying to reach her. She looked at him for a second then smiled weakly, suddenly dark tendrils he could not sense encircled his arms, pulling him away, she began to rise to the surface, passing him, he reached for her outstretched fingers, missing by a inch before the world went black as the dark arms covered him and melted into a world of inky blackness. He heard a single, high-pitched, and horribly mirthless laugh and suddenly realised he could not breath. There was a flash of green across his vision. He blinked and a pair of hands pierced his chest. He would have screamed had he been able to. Fatal pain ripped through him and he saw his own heart beating in a pair of hands surrounded by swirling green hair, he could not see her face but knew it was Miko, she drew a dagger out of nowhere and drove it through is still beating heart. Everything dissolved with the sound of his silent agonized scream  
  
Tien awoke in a cold sweat, his breathing coming in short, ragged gasps. He suddenly realised arms were around him. He blinked a few times and saw Yamcha sitting on his knees next to him and Chou zu beside him. He realised the arms could only belong to one person. There was a warm sensation on his shoulder and he gradually became aware of the sound of sobbing  
  
"Thank god" a voice whispered. He turned his head to feel silky hair. He raised a hand to his head and realised he was trembling all over. He turned to tilt Miko's head so as to see her face. Petrified of what he might see. He did not remember the dream, except that it had been about her, and that now he was almost too scared to look at her  
  
Miko sniffed a little as he lifted her chin. He was staring at her as if she were the devil himself. She blinked as he let out a breath  
  
"What happened?" he sounded disoriented and strained. Yamcha answered for her, she could barely breathe let alone speak  
  
"You were.asleep..you were screaming and thrashing around, we couldn't wake you, you were yelling about demons and devils and dark magic and evil and blood and pain and fear, and." his voice tailed away  
  
"Miko" Chou zu finished. Miko did not look into his eyes. She had heard the sound of yelling and had come running downstairs to find Yamcha trying to restrain Tien as he thrashed around hard enough to injure himself, it had taken all her strength just to hold onto him, she ended up singing in the end, a lullaby she used to hear as a child, the only thing that would truly calm her raging spirit before Sheme. Surprisingly it had calmed him for a second or two, then he had awoken. She realised Yamcha was looking at her  
  
"I never knew you could sing" she frowned  
  
"I didn't either" She turned back to resting her head on Tien's shoulder, he was drenched in sweat and shaking all over. Not to mention the fact he felt like ice  
  
Tien shook his head dazedly  
  
"Maybe you should sleep in my bed tonight, I'll take the couch" Miko told him, it was not a suggestion, more a sugar coated order  
  
"Fine, just, just let me, change, I'm soaking" he shivered, feeling like a small child. Miko had to help him get dressed in the end, this did not faze her at all surprisingly. She led him up to her room and put him to bed as if he were a small child. He felt weak and afraid. But her scent filled the room so strongly it acted almost as a tranquilliser. He fell asleep to a soft kiss on his forehead.  
  
Miko stepped downstairs and collapsed on the couch  
  
"Gods, what was wrong with him?" she wondered aloud. Master Roshi was standing in the doorway to his own room, where he had been standing ever since she first came downstairs  
  
"I think we'd all like to know Miko" his quiet voice was accusing. No more was said. She took her coat and tried to sleep under that. Carefully monitoring Tien's ki for any more unusual fluctuations.  
  
*  
  
Tien awoke feeling strange. His muscles would not respond and he found all he wanted to do was sleep, yet he could not keep his eyes shut. The door opened and Miko stepped in. She was carrying a tray and it smelt good  
  
"Morning" she looked as if she hadn't slept for days  
  
"What happened last night?" he was asking honestly for it was a dazed blur  
  
Miko did not know how to answer that. She settled for kissing him on the forehead and setting the tray on the bedside table, she had called in sick for work, she had no idea what was wrong with Tien,  
  
But she had a feeling it had something to do with her  
  
"Miko?" she looked up and smiled  
  
"Yes" she had picked up the cup of steaming coffee she had made for herself, and was holding it in front of her face, blowing the steam away  
  
"What's this?"  
  
Silence.  
  
*  
  
He held up a small book bound in the exact colour of her hair. Her eyes widened and she stood up, dropping the cup, black liquid spilling over the carpet  
  
"No" she whispered. His eyes narrowed and he forced his limbs to obey as he sat up  
  
"How could you?" he slowly got up, advancing on her, an angry gleam in his eyes. She covered her mouth to calm her ragged breathing. He stepped close enough to touch her and stopped  
  
"How could you?" he hissed again. She shook her head, sinking to her knees, quivering  
  
"YOU BITCH!" he screamed, suddenly kicking her in the ribs, she flew into a wall, gasped in pain and slid down to the floor.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"You rip my heart to pieces And kiss the pain away  
  
You sneak up on me  
  
Stealing my soul  
  
Ensnaring my senses Making me crazy I want you For my own For all time  
  
You make my life a churning ocean You steal away my reason I don't want to feel this way But without you Without you I would fade away Promise me  
  
You won't fade away"  
  
~~~~~~~~ 


	12. WAITER! who put that donkey in my burger...

CHAPER TWENTY-SEVEN: Pay the piper-my jury stands, my judgement calls  
  
Miko felt pain shoot through her like millions of stabbing needles of the white-hot variety. She sucked at the air, trying to breath  
  
Tien felt his eyes widen at what he had just done. Forgetting for the tiniest moment what she had done he started towards her, meaning to help her up and apologise. The look on her face stopped him, she had come back from her dazed trance  
  
She got up slowly, holding her ribs  
  
"How dare I?" she said in a fatal voice, there was a line of blue blood running down from the corner of her mouth, he suddenly remembered part of the dream, the part with steely eyes and a dagger, and blood  
  
"I'll tell you how dare I" she took a slow but purposeful step towards him  
  
"You" she hissed, raising a hand to point, right at his heart  
  
"You stole my life from me, you ruined it, you made me care for you, you made this so much harder than it has to be, you caused me more pain than this whole world put together" her voice was a deadly hiss  
  
"You, you, you. You made me the way I am. You stole my attention, attention I could have given to the one person in this world who loves me without a reason, all you care about is this earth. I never had to stay here, I never had to be with you, you were so dam sweet, you killed my resolve and every time I put my plan into action you made it crumble, you planted the seed of mistrust in me in others, you destroyed my whole world" he was backing away, fear ruling his motions, he did not know why the others had not heard him, then it hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut  
  
"What did you do with the others!" he yelled, she narrowed her eyes, undaunted  
  
"I gave up my freedom for you, and you repay me by reading my only friend, that book was the only thing keeping me sane!" suddenly a thin line of ki shot out from her finger, heading straight for his heart. He ducked, the fatal blast burned the skin on the back of his neck and pierced through the wall, to carry on for miles. He jumped to his feet, readying a blast of his own. She did not flinch as he shot it at her; she simply batted it away. Watching him through her terrifying eyes, he was suddenly angry again  
  
"How could you?! I cared about you! I would have died to protect you! You put me though hell! And for what! A game you will cheat to win at!!" he screamed at her, she did not move, still staring at him. He turned and left the room, his body suddenly obeying his every angry command.  
  
Miko sank to the floor again. She heard the door slam and felt Tien leave. She had asked Yamcha, Chou zu and Master Roshi to give her some time alone with Tien. She suddenly found tears in her eyes, giving in to the immeasurable grief she let it come. The dam burst and all her pain, all her hurt came pouring out through her eyes and mouth as she wailed and cried. She ran out of tears and began smashing things.  
  
Gohan blinked as he felt a really weird ki surge, he looked at his father who nodded, he blurred out of sight  
  
Miko was busy destroying Master Roshi's house, smashing anything in sight, she had already sliced her wrists by putting her fists through the windows and various glass ware. She was in the process of turning the wall into dust when the might super saijin turned up  
  
Goku's eyes widened at what he saw, there was blue blood smeared everywhere and debris littered the floor, the lounge was in ruins with piece of what had once been walls and furniture everywhere. He followed the blood trail around an over turned table to find Miko smashing the mantle. He wrapped his arms around her, inning her blue soaked arms to her sides  
  
Tien landed on the white tiles, he could feel Miko's ki going haywire, at this point he was too angry to care, he had run out of tears of his own and simply stared expressionlessly at Dende as the young guardian stepped up to him. He shoved the book into the namek's hands and took off. He needed to be alone.  
  
She screamed and wailed and shrieked, tears streaming down her face, he took her wrists carefully and saw that both were bleeding freely and full of glass,  
  
Self-inflicted.  
  
He held her by the lower arms and wrapped his arms around her again. She kicked and thrashed, he knew she had lost a lot of blood, there were cuts all over her arms and her clothing was torn. It took all his will power just to keep holding onto her. But her fury could not sustain her forever and eventually she dissolved into sobs, still struggling weakly.  
  
He held onto her until she stopped, he knew she had lost too much blood to wait. He teleported to Satan city and the nearest hospital. She never stopped crying, and never once did an articulate word come out of her mouth, by the time he handed her over to the nurses she was hysterical and they quickly sedated her.  
  
Dende opened the book, pretty sure he knew what was in it  
  
"Let me kill, let me kill, taste the blood! Gloriousness lies in death, kill, kill, kill!!"  
  
"Time to kill, let me twist the world, let me tear it apart, kill, blood, the sweet taste of death" phrases such as theses were scrawled all over the first ten pages in various coloured inks in spidery, almost sinister seeming handwriting. Then he came to Miko's clumsy, child like handwriting  
  
"Today I found out I am an alien. It hasn't sunk in yet and I have to be strong for Sheme, this changes everything, my whole life was a lie, gods, how much bad luck do I deserve? Gods save me, what am supposed to do? I got plucked off the ground by some huge tri clops an hauled to some huge mansion and they tell me I have to save their sorry asses, gods, I can't handle this, but what about Sheme? Gods what about him? I can't tell him, he wouldn't understand what it means, I am an alien! It isn't right, it can't be right, can it?"  
  
Then after a few pages describing pretty much what she did he rest of that day it cut into the spidery handwriting again  
  
"The fools, think they can outwit me, how dare they! No matter, this leads to more fun, more hurt, more pain, the delicious taste of pain, how I long for it's taste, I could take my pick of them right now but I will take my time, let them believe I will help them, let them think I am good, let them think I am the pure hearted little angel they all adore. I do not even have a heart, they found me today, what an opportunity! Ooooh, the joy of pain! I can't wait, I shall dig out their hearts piece by piece then set them on fire, ahhh, blood, it tastes so good!"  
  
The entries reverted back to Miko's handwriting for possibly a month of entries, then followed many, many highly detailed and very gruesome pictures of tortures and death and suffering, anything the mind could imagine and more, these followed throughout the book, the pictures gradually growing more and more to resemble the various Z fighters. There was a rather deranged, unhinge patch in which she was in the time chamber, little was said about it really, nothing at all about her time with Piccolo, then he came to something much worse  
  
"The time has come. I have him wrapped around my fingers, his heart before me on a plate, time to execute stage one"  
  
Then back to the pages of scribbled homicidal notes. Then back to Miko's handwriting  
  
"Oh God, What am I doing? I think I'm falling for the three eyed bastard! He's messing with my head! I know it, I can't let him in, what if it's some sick mind game? What can I do? Gods, save me. This just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse. I don't know what to do, What the bloody hell am I to do? I can't let him in, he might hurt me, but Gods I want him, so much. It's like he's seducing me without realising it. I can almost taste him, but it will make it harder in the end if I get attached. My head is such a mess, what am I supposed to do?"  
  
Her words were true and sincere and many of the pages were stained with what he assumed where tears, as he read through he came to a much more terrifying section  
  
"He has ruined my plan, well if I can't take them al I'll take just him, he cannot take my control from me. I won't let him, he can't make me happy, I can't get attached. I will hurt him so badly, then I will kill them all, one way or another, it could have been so much easier one everyone but he had to be so bloody sweet natured, sickly sweet too sweet, foul. The sweetest thing about him is his blood, how I long to take it from him. Seduce him, make him my toy, then destroy him, ahh his blood would be so sweet when mixed with fear and pain ahhh, so innocent, so pure" you could almost see her sifting for the right word  
  
"So sweet"  
  
The entries ended there. There were a few more scribbles and quite a few pictures, all featuring Tien, himself, Chou zu and Piccolo, one or two had Vegeta in the back ground and what could have been Goku and Gohan. He closed the book and sighed. Piccolo was standing behind him. The tall man could not read well enough to understand her scrawl at the speed with which Dende whipped through it  
  
"So she is evil then" Dende shook his head  
  
"I don't know Piccolo, this diary finished a while before today, we don't know if she has changed or not, and I may still be able to heal her mind if the corruption does not run to her soul, she could have changed"  
  
"And if she hasn't?"  
  
"Then there is only one option"  
  
Miko awoke with pain over most of her top half, she opened her eyes to see Goku sitting on a chair beside her, she realised she was on a bed, she blinked a few times and realised no one else was in the room. His chin was resting on his folded hands and he was watching her levelly, an expression she had never seen on him, she suddenly realised how much her wrists hurt and that they were heavily bandaged.  
  
"You gave me quite a scare there Miko" she turned her head away her eyes burning and sore  
  
"What happened to drive you so crazy?" she said nothing  
  
"Answer me" he ordered her  
  
"I am insane, that's what" she hissed at him dangerously, he narrowed his eyes at her, the kind of expression he wore before a serious battle, she somehow knew it.  
  
Goku thought carefully, no one else had been at Kame house or they would have stopped her, he had a feeling this had a lot to do with Tien but he doubted any ordinary fight would send Miko so crazy, she was always the level headed one, with the forever placid and rarely angry personality, occasionally she got made but not mad like this. He studied her carefully  
  
"What did he do?" he suddenly had the thought that perhaps things had gone farther than she wanted, but he was certain Tien would never force anything on Miko, almost, Tien acted pretty strange around her sometimes, possessive and angry, only on occasion but enough. She tried unsuccessfully to pulled back the covers over her, he helped her, pulling them down to her waist, she lifted up the shirt of the hospital gown to reveal the heavy bruising to her ribs  
  
"That" she said. Goku gaped  
  
"In training?" she shook her head  
  
"We never spar" Goku knew Miko was a strong fighter but in over all power anyone of the Z fighters was at least double her strength, not to mention saijin strength. She would have had to have been off guard for such a move to get past her defences, she never left an opening, you had to make them, and take a fair beating in the process.  
  
"Why?" Miko closed her eyes  
  
"Go away you brainless excuse for a primate" she could tell immediately he did not even understand her words. She scowled and sighed, trying to sleep, if it would make him go away then he dreams would be worth it.  
  
Tien was sitting on a skyscraper, the same one he had found Miko next to all those weeks ago, of course to her it would have been almost two years ago. He was thinking, trying to find a reason she could be so cold. Her heart, her mind, her soul were ice, ice you could not melt with all the heat in the world, he wondered how he did not see it before. He gave up with the only thing he could think of; she was evil.  
  
Miko slipped into the cool night air with her blue stained coat wrapped around her. She shed the bandages and shot away.  
  
* Tien sat next to Gohan. The kid placed a hand on his shoulder. He did not look up  
  
"Hey, don't beat yourself up, none of us knew"  
  
Miko heard a silent landing and did not move  
  
"You were sent here to kill me" she said quietly, Piccolo said nothing  
  
"I just have one favour to ask"  
  
"Go ahead" his voice was unusually gentle  
  
"Fulfil your promise" he nodded to her back and stepped forward, she was looking out at the huge full moon as it rose out above the horizon. He raised his hand  
  
"Wait" he paused, she turned around and pulled out two envelopes  
  
"Give them to their owners" she said quietly. Piccolo nodded and took the small rectangular squares and slipped them into his shirt  
  
"Dende can heal your mind" she shook her head  
  
"No he can't"  
  
Miko turned back to face the rising moon  
  
"It's beautiful" she whispered  
  
"I always loved the moon, and the night that came with it, I think that's what I'll miss most, in hell" she said softly. There was a swishing sound and a searing pain tore through her chest. She fell without a sound, her eyes closing and her mouth slightly open. For a brief second she enjoyed the most peaceful eternity of her life.  
  
Tien felt a weak flicker of ki flare up for a second then snuff out completely, he sighed and took off  
  
"The flame flickers  
  
The light goes out I am left Alone in the dark"  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: My crimson ocean-blue blood  
  
Tien sat on the large grey building, the metal version of the lookout essentially. His knees were drawn up to his chin and his hand holding onto the opened letter before his feet. He lifted it to read  
  
"Tien  
  
If you are reading this then I am already gone. I always was mad, strangest thing is I feel as much hurt as you do. I did love you, though I could never admit it for fear of what such an admittance would make my darker side do to you, trust me, what I had planned was worse by far. It's ironic that it should end this way, just when I was beginning to heal. I had it coming I guess. I will you all my worldly possessions and wish you a wonderful life, with a person who deserves you  
  
If I had a heart it would be yours  
  
Miko"  
  
Tien folded the page with tears streaming down his face, what had he done? ~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Loose ends-the pain of loss and regrets  
  
Telling Sheme that his sister was dead was the hardest thing Piccolo had ever done. Tien had disappeared somewhere and had not been seen for a few days, and because of his promise Piccolo had to do it. He still remembered the kid's face  
  
"Kid"  
  
"Yeah? Who you"  
  
"My name is Piccolo"  
  
"Hi"  
  
"Listen"  
  
"Ok"  
  
"You need to know something  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's" he paused  
  
"Your sister"  
  
"What about her? Is she mad at me or something?"  
  
"No"  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"She's, she's dead"  
  
Piccolo closed his eyes, he was staying at Capsule Corp, his promise bound him to  
  
"Piccolo, you probably know me better than anyone"  
  
"I'd say so"  
  
"Then promise me something"  
  
"Shoot"  
  
"We both know that one of these days I will die, either because my wits snap and I kill myself or because one of you does, so promise me two things"  
  
"Shoot"  
  
"Take care of Sheme, I don't care who he ends up with, make sure he becomes a better person than I was, and if I die, you kill me"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I want you to, now promise" he reluctantly nodded.  
  
Bulma sighed as she watched Sheme's tear streaked face; the boy had not stopped crying for three days. There was always a tear making its way down his cheek. Bulma fought tears; however terrible they told her Miko was she had grown attached to the girl, as had everyone else. They were burying Miko tomorrow. Next to her parents. Bulma had yet the to see to the headstone. She could think of nothing to put on it. She realised now that no one except Sheme and until right before she died Tien, that Miko would call a friend or a loved one of any kind. She turned to Sheme again  
  
"Sheme?" he looked at her through sad, tearful green eyes  
  
"What would you say describes Miko the best?" he thought, the tears actually pausing for a second or two. He frowned in concentration, then looked back up  
  
"The one with many faces, who knew us better than we knew ourselves" Bulma blinked, it was rather astute for a seven year old, though Sheme was no ordinary seven year old.  
  
*  
  
Sheme did not cry as Bulma handed him the small pot of ashes, at his request they had burned Miko instead, incinerating her body with a single blast. He blinked a few times, he knew Miko did not like to cry, and he wanted to be just like her. He stepped to the edge of the seaside cliff that had once been his home as a toddler and a baby. He was now eight, he had turned eight two days after Miko died, no one had told him how she died but he did not want to know. He sighed and opened the pot, there was a thud and he looked up to see Tien. He almost managed a smile, Tien also could not manage a grin  
  
"You know she was so proud of you" Tien whispered, Sheme blinked  
  
"She was?"  
  
"Yeah, you were the best thing in her life, all she ever thought about was how to make things better for you" Sheme really did smile now  
  
"She looked after me since I was a little baby"  
  
Tien placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. He had a feeling what Sheme was about to do anyway. The boy stepped right up to the edge and with a whispered word of goodbye threw the fragile pot as high as he could into the air. Tien sent a small blast of ki after it. The china shattered with a sound that somehow reminded him of Miko's laugh. Silken black dust swirled in an updraft and scattered above them.  
  
Sheme and Tien stayed after everyone else had left. Sitting in the same spot she died, though neither of them knew this. Both was feeling pain, one guilt, betrayal, and grief, another, just grief. Sheme turned to Tien and hugged him  
  
"Miko really loved you" Tien blinked  
  
"She told me one day, she said she loved you as much as she loved me" Tien almost smiled  
  
"Thanks kid" though it only made him feel worse; Miko never lied to Sheme  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY: Judgement day  
  
Miko again found herself before the red man. He had spent a long time examining her soul, unable to decide whether it was good or evil  
  
"You have certainly done some terrible things young woman" he told her sternly  
  
"Yet you have so much love, for only two people though"  
  
"One" she corrected  
  
"Hmm, you have suffered much, your heart is twisted and corrupt, but so sad, so lonely, could the evil run this deep?" she shrugged  
  
"I'm dead now, does it matter, just send me to hell so I can pay my dues"  
  
King Yamma searched her mind for signs of trickery, there was definitely a lot of guilt in her, guilt not for her actions, but the pain they caused, he also saw the damage in her mind, damage that had caused many of her actions, and he also saw her need to punish herself, it was almost as if all this darkness should not belong to some one with such love and humility, she was highly empathic, but ignored her sixth sense completely, she was definitely the most difficult case he had ever come across. He wandered what to do when King Kai's voice reverberated inside his head  
  
"King Yamma! Have you made your judgement, can I train her? Hurry it up, I've never had a female student"  
  
"King Kai you know as well as I do even if she is not judged evil she has done nothing to deserve your training, she does not deserve to keep her body, it showed when she did not fade, only her astro self came to the dimension. I have seen her once before now, and this time she is well and truly dead"  
  
Miko blinked as the red man spoke to no one  
  
"The only hope?" she supposed it was a god thing  
  
"Well, who would wish her back, it was the Z fighters"  
  
"No I cannot heal her"  
  
"I doubt the Supreme Kai will, he is a legend"  
  
"I see" the red man turned back to her  
  
"You are judged good, you will travel to king Kai's planet and train with him, perhaps in time your deeds will be forgiven by the fates, you have done much evil, but your heart itself is purer than what warrants hell" Miko scowled  
  
"What makes you think I want to train, my ki would be no higher than a hundred thousand, every Z fighter has at least double that, and that is after two years of training. It has risen so slowly it is not worth it, and what would I use it for?" King Yamma sighed  
  
"It is am honour to train with King Kai" she shrugged  
  
"Whatever, but there is no way I am running for a year to get to his dam planet" He smiled  
  
"If you are quick you should get there in an other world day" she shrugged  
  
"How long is that?"  
  
"About the same as twelve earth hours" She turned and strode out of h check in station. He smiled to himself; King Kai would have his hands full with her.  
  
King Kai fidgeted, unable to wait for his newest student; from what he had sense from the thoughts of the Z fighters she was hot, and he had never had a female student. He had also seen her potential and the various depths of her abilities, she would be a highly interesting pupil, that was if she was willing to let him teach her, he had a feeling she would be a lot like Piccolo. He had sensed some strange telepathic powers radiating from her, it was what had turned Tien's usually gentle nature to a much more erratic and sometimes violent person. He knew it was to do with her twin but it was not helping anyone, least of all Miko. He never would have expected Tien to hit Miko outside of training, or to turn on Yamcha even with Miko's distractions, it demonstrated how powerful her influences were, whether she realised it or not.  
  
Miko was busy strolling along snake way. She had been running for a few hours and was bored. She was a rather lazy person by nature, but so controlled of herself it never came through, but up here her layers of acting and self-discipline had been stripped away, revealing her core personality, to a point, she was in fierce control of what she was and who she wanted to be. She blinked as a small palace came into view in the distance, she was hungry and bored so she figured that she could find something else to do other than walk or run. She shot forward at a fast jog and stopped by the large door  
  
Princess Snake looked up, there was a presence outside, it did not feel like a male but it was deliciously devilish none the less, She stood up as a young woman with long green hair entered, she blinked, suddenly jealous, the woman was beautiful, incredibly so, and this annoyed her, she did not like to share the spotlight.  
  
Miko blinked at the blue woman before her. She was picking up a lot of evil in her, almost as much as herself, she smirked, she could tell just by the body language just what was going through her head  
  
"Welcome, I am Princess Snake" She smiled, layering her acting skills, glad to find she still had them  
  
"Hello, I am Queen Nokia of the lunar solar system of Harco" She spoke in a perfect sultry Latino accent, rolling her r's and pronouncing the word "harco" almost in a whisper, "harco" was in fact a brand name she had posed for many times.  
  
Princess Snake frowned  
  
"I have never heard of such a system" The woman smiled  
  
"Not many have" Princess snake was getting more jealous every minute, she had not had a visitor since Goku and now she was sure this woman was stealing them all. Her fangs extended and her hair frizzed slightly  
  
"You stole my spotlight" she hissed, lunging forwards. What she didn't expect was the way the woman calmly sidestepped her and smirked  
  
"You are so predictable" Miko sent a ki blast through the roof of what was melting into a long red and pink chamber, dripping with green acid. She shot through and landed on the back of a giant snake.  
  
"Great" she said to herself as she sprinted up to the head, sending a ki blast into an eye on her way. There was a scream as she sprang off the nose and into the air. Below her was a giant snake, writhing around on the platform on the side of snake way. She grinned to herself as she descended, the snake would not follow if it could not see. She took off at a gallop  
  
King Kai shifted excitedly in his chair, she would be here within the hour, he had a training programme ready for her, specifically designed for a woman.  
  
Miko found she had run out of snake. In the distance she could see a tiny spec she assumed was King Kai's planet. She smirked and took a leap. High above the small dot she smiled as the otherworldly air rushed past her and the gravity of the planet clawed at her. Pulling her downwards. She landed with a thud that left dents on the ground. She blinked and found her knees weak.  
  
King Kai stepped outside to see a hot girl moving slowly around  
  
"Getting used to the gravity I see" he said. She swung around and scowled  
  
"So this is the famous King Kai" she said disdainfully. He frowned as her movements loosened up, she had gotten used to the gravity pretty quickly.  
  
"Welcome, I am very pleased to see you have come, shall we get started?" she shrugged  
  
"Whatever"  
  
Two minutes later Miko dropped bubbles at King Kai's feet. The blue man was gaping  
  
"You adapt quickly" she smirked  
  
"What's next"  
  
"GREGORY!!"  
  
Authors note: well long time since I put up one of the more cheesy chapters, quite a dark sort of story isn't it?  
  
REVIEWS!! chants around a fire wearing a bikini made out of horse hair Review, review, reviews. Or you will be cursed with this horrible sight forever!!!!!!! 


	13. LOOK! I don't CARE if this is just a cha...

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Another day-life goes on, death approaches  
  
Tien stared at the clear waters of the mountain lake. He had spent nearly two weeks on his own. He had returned for Chou zu the day before and was busy bathing. He could not keep his thoughts away from Miko and what he had done. The journal finished several weeks before, and it could have meant she had turned back from the path half of her was following. He dashed the water angrily. He had caused her death. And even when she could not defend herself he had hurt her, he never slept anymore, he could not bring himself to eat and he trained like a madman. He had no idea what he would do when he faced her twin. If Tien knew he would probably be preparing at this moment. But Chou zu insisted he stunk to high heaven and would not go near him unless he took a bath. So he did.  
  
Sheme was busy drawing a picture of Miko and her bike. He always did his best when he drew Miko and was careful to get her shape just right. He sniffed a bit and took one of the special inking markers Miko had bought him a few weeks ago. She had bought him a huge art set and set up a studio of sorts in a corner of his room. He did not like sharing with Trunks. He sniffed again as he coloured her hair, careful to make the shading just right. He wiped away more tears so as not to smudge the picture. He was going to put it on his wall next to the picture of himself as a baby and Miko holding him. Bulma would come in and look at it all the time  
  
Bulma in fact happened to be doing this at that exact moment. She sighed as she stared at a large framed photo. Miko was standing holding a tiny bundle of blankets with tufts of red hair sticking out, her knee length hair was slightly knotted and her clothing was ripped and torn, she was standing in knee depth grass on a cliff of some sort before a setting sun, somehow even with the light her face was glowing. She wore an expression Bulma had never seen her wear in reality, it was such pure peace, complete blissful peace. Even with Sheme Miko had always had a strange glint in her eyes, guilt maybe? Hate, fear? She never did find out. She stared at the younger form of Miko, she looked possibly ten, maybe slightly younger, her eyes were trained on the child she held so carefully and Bulma could see a tender smile from underneath her hair. It struck her how little she really knew about Miko's past. She sighed, brushing away a tear. Miko looked like a girl in this picture, Bulma knew her as a woman, a strong, powerful woman. And a hard calculating woman with no ends to her love for one person, the little red haired boy in her arms. It seemed strange that one dubbed so evil could love some one so much. She sighed as tears began to fall. Sheme was busy drawing in the kid's living room, Trunks hardly used it and Bulma had turned it into a studio for the young artist. He had amazing talent for one so young, se had seen professional artists who could not draw as well as him. She smiled, thinking of the trust fund Miko had left to him, it contained tuition money for art school and pretty much enough extra cash to set him up for life in style and comfort. Piccolo had told her of his promise to Miko and now stayed on the grounds permanently. She sighed again, how she missed her friend, and whatever anyone called Miko she would always be a friend in Bulma's mind.  
  
* Sheme closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he never could get to sleep anymore. All he could think about was Miko and how much he missed her. It had never occurred to him before that anything would ever happen to Miko, she was always the one to protect him, he had seen her fly through walls and come away without a scratch, more than once various thugs had tried to bash her head in with steel bars, the metal had simply bounced off. He had seen her come off better in a fire fight with an armed offenders squad. It had come from a rather eventful and entirely frightening episode he could not to this day fathom just how it had come to pass  
  
"Spread out, we don't know what we're dealing with here!" the man in blue with lots of badges barked. Sheme glanced at his sister and held his breath, he didn't know why she had told him to hide with her. To his knowledge police men were friendly, or at least this was what the people at school had told him, not that he believed it now, if something scared his sister he knew they had to be really bad  
  
"Miko?" he breathed, so quietly he barely heard it. Her response was to suddenly spring up and over the over turn truck they were crouched behind. He was looking through a hole Miko's head had somehow made. He saw a flash of movement and a squeal Then Miko was beside him again.  
  
Men were running everywhere  
  
"What's going on?" he asked urgently, he didn't notice the streak of blue soaking into her clothes from her shoulder.  
  
"Sheme," she said hurriedly  
  
"I want you to run on my signal, somebody started some sort of riot, listen closely, run to the right and go as fast as you can, make as little noise as possible and don't look back alright?" He blinked but nodded, sometimes Miko told him to run, and he always did. The last time he had disobeyed this kind of an order she had thrown him for what felt like a mile. His sister was really strong  
  
"Ok" she winced ad he noticed she was breathing hard. Suddenly he saw the blue liquid "What's that?" she glanced at it and he saw her face tense "Nothing, now go when I say, don't look back no matter what happens" he nodded, not stopping to wonder if he would ever see her again.  
  
Miko suddenly disappeared and he waited for a split second, there were sudden bangs and yells, taking this as his cue he took off at a gallop, he was pretty fast from following Miko all the time, he trailed after her like a faithful dog. This ran through his mind as he catapulted in the ordered direction. He was heading for home, a small building containing perhaps twenty small apartments. Miko called their three-room living space a hole. He called it home. He preferred it to their old home anyway, it held to any memories of their parent, he roughly brushed away a tear, Miko never cried and she was a girl, but then again she was the toughest and greatest girl in the world, and she said he was allowed to cry if he wanted to, crying didn't mean you weren't gutsy and brave.  
  
Reaching the dull dirty apartment block he did not even slow down. Taking a flying leap at the wall he latched onto the conveniently placed grip. Miko entered this way, she said it was quicker than the stairs, and much easier to get in and out of if you were ever caught, caught doing what he didn't know.  
  
He slipped into the window and closed it after himself, then settled down to wait on the couch.  
  
*  
  
Miko didn't come home, the nice old lady from downstairs came up and told him he was to stay with her, Miko had said. He liked this lady so he agreed, it was not as if anything in this world could hurt him anyway, Miko would always save him.  
  
Miko didn't come back the next night either. Mrs Sandine let him watch TV; it was perhaps the scariest thing he had ever seen in his life  
  
"Our top story tonight a young woman is in hospital with multiple gunshot wounds from the riot reported two days ago. Paramedics arrived on the scene just as the police brought the situation under control. The only injured person on site. Police are baffled as multiple shots were fired. The doctors were amazed at the fact she survived; having taken several bullets to the abdomen with what should have been fatal damage. She was in fact still conscious when taken to hospital and refused treatment. Suspected drunk or high it was compulsory, police intervened and hand cuffed her, she is currently resting in a guarded ward, police are searching for any evidence she was involved in the riot"  
  
The screen flicked to a picture of several policemen in blue walking with some one in between them, some one with long green hair covering her face. Sheme froze.  
  
Miko didn't come home that day.  
  
Or the next night.  
  
It was not until a week later that she turned up home; Mrs Sandine fussed over her for a while. But Miko would not let her see the gunshot wounds. Sheme had to help her a lot of the time, she walked normally but every now and again she would make a sudden move and her face would twist in pain and she would grabbed her shoulder or her stomach. Sheme's illusion that she was bullet proof was well and truly shattered then, but not his belief that nothing would ever get him, because Miko would always be around  
  
Sheme drifted through his happier memories of Miko, he had never been more scared in his life than then. Except perhaps when his parent's had died. He did not even want to think about that. He had never seen Miko break down before, not even for a second, even if it was only for that space of time. But she had never cried. She never cried.  
  
He let out a heavy sigh and turned over. Knowing he would not be sleeping at all tonight.  
  
*  
  
Miko scowled annoyedly, tuning out King Kai's incessant jokes, she had never been annoyed by some one so much in her entire life, and the fact not only he but Gregory and perhaps Bubbles (though it could have just been a monkey thing) made passes at her, some subtle, and some not so subtle. It had been nearly a month now.  
  
She often found her thoughts drifting back to Sheme, she prayed he was ok, all his life she had protected him, treated him as her best friend, for indeed he was her only friend, he seemed to understand her better than anyone while only seeing one piece of her. Perhaps the happiest part of her. She sighed sadly, tears came and went regularly now, she had given up trying to stop them, simply training with little rivers flowing down her cheeks, King Kai could take a hint and did not mention this. She scowled darkly as King Kai approached to her position meditating under the lone tree, a nifty trick she had swiped from Piccolo; levitation without the use of too much ki, she found it very relaxing and it was gradually allowing her to sort her mind out.  
  
"Miko?" she scowled and opened an eye  
  
"What?" she growled, he took a step back, she had never actually attacked him, but with her walls down she was ferocious and lethal, fatal attraction was what Miko was all about.  
  
"I, errrr, I invited some of the residents of the H.F.I.L to come up here so you could train with them" she raised an eyebrow  
  
King Kai blinked, she looked so much like Piccolo, the expression was the same, the position and she seemed to generate the "Don't mess with me or else" waves he had picked up from the green man the whole time he had been on the planet. He swallowed and she closed her eyes again  
  
"Who?" he gulped  
  
"Captain Ginyu, a few of the saijins, not many really, it had to be in reasonably large numbers otherwise none would be a challenge for you, but Cell and such would destroy the planet" she did not move, he had not mentioned Zarbon who would have been a challenge or Freiza, he knew they were too much of a risk, even inviting the Ginyu squad and Bardock's lot would be dangerous, though he knew they had little to no idea of Miko's heritage, this was a very good thing  
  
"When?"  
  
"NOW!" Berta jumped into pose.  
  
Miko raised an eyebrow as the Ginyu squad went through their paces. She could think of a few things to do to them that would be fun. She was still cruel and vindictive, it was a trait bred deep into her, she liked to inflict pain.  
  
"Hey, where's the fighter you said would challenge us?" it was a smallish red one with white hair that reminded her strongly of a rock singer who spoke. King Kai cleared his throat  
  
"This is Miko, try not to hurt them too bad, they can't die again you know" Miko took a standing position and folded her arms. She could see each and every one of the varied group of five fighters eying her up. She was in gi King Kai had provided, it was basically a smaller version of Goku's that fitted much tighter and bore no symbol, She would not wear anyone's symbol.  
  
"Is this it? We can't fight such a pretty thing, come on King Kai where's the challenge? I couldn't ruin such a pretty face" Jeiyce's accent was annoying  
  
"Or such a hot body" the tiny green one said, his eyes crawling over her. She uncrossed her arms and sighed. The purple one smirked  
  
"Yeah, I mean I could find other uses for her but not as a fighter, much too pretty, would look much better-' his sentence was cut short as Miko's fist sent him flying.  
  
Berta gaped; no one, no one except Frieza had ever been able to just send captain Ginyu flying with one punch, not once had it happened before. He scowled  
  
"Well we'll see how fast you are little girl" he zipped behind her. She did not turn around as he caught her in a strangle hold, her scent was intoxicating, he wondered what she would look like without the orange gi  
  
"Well, look what I found" he breathed in her ear. He was not certain what happened next but he found himself on the ground underneath a blue boot. He yelped as his ribcage was crushed under incredible pressure. The girl's face was expressionless but there was a hungry, vicious gleam in her eyes, the kind of gleam he had seen in Vegeta, the saijin prince, a vicious blood lusted joy of causing pain, but in her eyes, it was much, much worse, he yelped again as she kicked him step by step a few yards before blasting him back to the H.F.I.L  
  
King Kai grinned as the purple man went flying. Miko had had no trouble with Captain Ginyu fully powered up which meant that though through the whole battle her ki had remained level that it was at least two hundred thousand. He grinned again as she rounded on him  
  
"Ah, yes, we have a few more coming, all sajins" she rolled her eyes  
  
"Geat, more Vegetas" he grinned as Bardock and his dead squad approached. Most of the saijins had not been truly evil in their souls, they had simply been raised that way, but many had come from the other world for a chance of a good fight, they did not know It was Miko, he normally did not bother asking for fighters but Miko was wily and vicious, a challenge to anyone  
  
Miko blinked as an older version of Goku with a scar across his right cheek landed a few yards away from her  
  
"This is the challenge?" he said disbelivingly  
  
"Bardock" she said levelly, he turned to smirk at her, looking very much like Vegeta  
  
"In the flesh, so to speak" she smirked back, he had a rather high fighting power for the average saijin and she had a feeling he was as wily as herself, possibly more so  
  
"Shall we?" she said sweetly, the ten or so other saijin backed off, leaving their squad leader alone  
  
King Kai watched carefully. Bardock was clever, though he did not show it particularly, but Miko tended to have a sense about people, she would be fine.  
  
Bardock couldn't help but smirk at the tall girl. Her golden eyes and green hair kept reminding him of somebody, though he did not know who  
  
"Zarbon's brat" he hissed, she smirked wider as she slid into a seemingly relaxed stance  
  
"So you knew good old dad then" she said sweetly, he could no longer see the future in the other world as time had little meaning in the term foresight came under but he could still read people, she was a clever, and vicious, and downright merciless, how very unlike her father, forever worrying about his looks, he was not exactly easy on anyone anyway, but he never went hard out, always scared to break a nail, but he had also known her mother, the woman was strong and proud, and fiercely protective of the little green and white bundle, bundles actually.  
  
He shrugged and charged, thinking a double fisted attack then a left hook with an upper cut and a sweep kick would take her out easily. She blocked three of his first moves then flipped him, taking hold of both his wrists and using his weight coupled with the enhanced gravity to basically wipe the grass with him. He yanked away and shot a ki blast right in her face. She avoided it easily and took a kick to the ribs in the process, she grinned as she round housed him in the head and caught him with a right cross, he had been waiting for a lower hit. While he was wiping the blood from his nose she had been taking out half his squad. He grinned as the five that were left took her on all at once. She led them on a graceful and highly entertaining dance around the planet for a while and left them in a tangled heap.  
  
He smirked and folded his arms to watch the last weak attempts to even injure her; this girl was definitely a mysterious one, he wondered what had killed her, she must be good if she was here, so what then? But he could also sense incredible darkness coming from her, well, incredible for one who must be good. He wondered vaguely why she was dead at all, such a pretty face would not make anyone believe she was a threat. A burly saijin whistled past his ear.  
  
*  
  
Tien glared at the food before him. Food was now tasteless and dull, he hardly ate at all and only the fact that he wanted to live, however painful it was, made him touch it at all. The reason he wanted to live was not so much because he liked it, but more that he somehow felt he had a reason to live, maybe It was Chou zu, maybe some tiny delusion Miko would come back somehow, maybe that this was all some sick dream that he would wake up from, and never even remember Miko and all the trouble she brought, and maybe he would go an marry Lunch or something, who knew? Who cared?  
  
Chou zu was busy chomping through some stew. They had returned to Kame house to train, having only three months until Miko's twin arrived. He often wondered about Miko, how she was doing, and what exactly her motives were, after all, she had not been bent on world domination or anything such, simply revenge. But the fact she was obviously not planning to help them meant that she was too great a risk, and with evil inside her, contact with her twin could have very well seen them all destroyed.  
  
*  
  
Piccolo blinked as a voice invaded his skull  
  
"Piccolo"  
  
"Huh? King Kai, what are you doing?" he mentally growled  
  
"Listen I need you to gather the dragon balls"  
  
"Why" he asked suspiciously  
  
"Just do it and I'll explain later, you have to hurry"  
  
*  
  
King Kai glanced uneasily at Miko, he wondered how she would react, brining her back was a risk, but he knew she had to resolve everything or she would go completely evil, and then they were all in trouble, and he, like Dende, knew that only Miko would be the one to defeat her twin, oddly enough Miko herself had become as much of a villain, and yet she was meant to be the good one.  
  
"Soon" he muttered. He knew his planet had helped Miko, it had given her a place where she could concentrate solely on her mind. But she had not resolved anything, she had simply pushed it all back and put a seal on it, and without the pressures of what she had once been the seal would hold.  
  
He felt sorry for Tien, he had known almost instantaneously the triclops would be smitten, completely inexperienced in such areas to fall for some one like Miko was just the sort of luck Tien would have, he still remembered the way Tien had had such a hard time trying to make him laugh, poor lad. But Tien had also proven himself to be cleverer than he looked.  
  
Miko was not quite as clever as she thought she was, and Tien had surprised her more than once, he had not actually realised why at the time but he was reluctant to go along with her, it was really because he had seen partially through her web of diversions and ingenious tactics, but in the end he caught her out. And she had not reacted well. Watching the massive fight that lasted less than two minutes was perhaps the most frightening and heartbreaking thing King Kai had ever seen. He had known it was coming, but to see such a hardened soul as Miko just break down like that rent the heart to pieces. And King Kai had always been a softie.  
  
*  
  
Piccolo stood before the dragon, he knew what King Kai wanted, he did not agree with it, but none the less he did it.  
  
"Bring the one known as Miko back to life" he called up to the massive beast, the booming answer came  
  
"It is done"  
  
*  
  
Miko looked down at her hands, she was fading "What the-" she did not get to finish because the world dissolved in a swirl of angry colours. The next thing she remembered was a thud and the sound of thunder  
  
Piccolo wondered if he was doing the right thing. King Kai had said that her mind had healed all it would until she faced a few people, she had to finish what she started for any chance of a real recovery, in the very least it would take out the kink in her soul, and put the evil twist In her to the side, so that she could control it, but really she could not without security, and there was only one person who could give that to her. Though Piccolo doubted the Triclops would be in any state to provide it. Tien's ki had been going lower and lower and his sensitive ears had caught snatches of things said about him. Piccolo had never given Tien much thought and could never understand just why he had been stupid enough to fall head over heels for such a bitch, but then again he wasn't much smarter than Goku, so what could one expect?  
  
"You have one more wish" the dragon boomed, as Piccolo was wondering what to use it for he heard Miko's voice  
  
"TURN KING KAI INTO A PURPLE DONKEY!!!" Miko shrieked. Piccolo could have sworn he saw the dragon smirk  
  
"It is done" Miko dusted herself off and brushed her waist length hair out of her eyes, it grew at incredible speeds, as though it wanted to be long. She scowled and took off without a word.  
  
Piccolo frowned, wondering what King Kai's purpose had been in bringing her back. He realized that with King Kai in his current state thanks to Miko he would have to wait at least twenty-four hours before a way was found to reverse it. No doubt the dragon had not made it permanent.  
  
Miko was busy trying to bring order to her thoughts. To this world she was dead, so effectively she had nothing to go back to. Sheme,  
  
"Gods, Sheme, I can't ever go back for him. Damn you, you bug eyed bastard! First I die and then you send me back so I can't even see my little brother!" she began to scream and curse at the air. She realized she had instinctively flown to Satan city. She had a feeling since nobody had any idea who she actually worked for and how to contact her when at work, that nobody would have told Robert, Sally, Rona and her agent who she could never remember the name of knew that she was dead. Which meant she had something to fall back on, but not straight away, she wanted peace.  
  
Sheme sighed sadly, it was his first day back at school and no one would leave him alone. He hated this, all he wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and die so he could see his sister; he missed her more than he could explain. He never drew anymore unless it was of her; he kept all his drawings of her hidden away in a crammed draw. His work was suffering as soon as he got back and it hurt to try and speak to anybody. He stared at the floor as he trudged along the crowded corridor, being jostled by kids as they made their way past him. Nobody paid any attention to the little red haired boy who had lost his big sister.  
  
Tien looked up. He could feel something funny in the air. For a second there had been a surge of power, but it had left as quickly as it had come. He sighed and went back to replaying his latest training combination in his head. The only thing that seemed to give him any rest was complete exhaustion, and this was hard to achieve without injury, which meant he had to rest anyway and gave him nothing else to think about other than what he had lost.  
  
Miko landed on a building roof. She pulled her hair into a bun and took the cloth wrist band and tied her hair into a rough plait. She quietly slipped over the edge.  
  
A clerk on duty at the desk of a rather large hotel blinked as an attractive but also rather smelly woman entered, her long green hair was pulled into a plait and she looked as if she had just been through a hedge backwards while running at a hundred miles per hour, her face glistened with sweat and there were dirty smudges on the strange orange and be clothing she wore, none of this could hide the fact she was drop dead gorgeous.  
  
"I want a room," she said simply  
  
Miko dropped the cash on the table. She had had her wallet on her when she died so it was coming in handy. She scowled as he wrinkled his nose, she was well aware she did not smell particularly tolerable, but King Kai was not famous for such things as a shower. In the other world, one did not eat, or drink, at least unless you wanted to therefore one did not need a bathroom, and if you were dead it didn't matter if you smelt or not. She shrugged as he handed her a key and gave her the number. She strolled towards the elevator and slammed her hand against the button. Of course this was not the wisest move as it left a sizable dent. But it seemed to work; one empty elevator appeared immediately.  
  
The young clerk frowned, she looked familiar but he could not really remember, suddenly he realised, Nokia! He smiled dreamily; he had seen Nokia face to face. Despite the fact she looked as if she had been on a rigorous training regime, but to keep in shape the way she did she most likely needed it. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair with a smug expression, now he had more than one up on his mates.  
  
The first thing Miko did was run a bath. She stripped as the boiling water filled the spacious tub. She tested it to find it perfect. She could handle temperatures of up to almost a hundred degrees, and much, much more when powered up, but she preferred no higher than scalding for a seriously relaxing bath. She smiled as she sank beneath the surface, her hair swirling around her in clouds. When her head broke the surface without a single ripple she saw the whole top of the water was covered in her dirt. She wrinkled her nose and used the tiniest amount of ki to incinerate it. She grinned; ki heated up the water perfectly.  
  
Tien jumped, another small surge of ki had nicked his senses. He shrugged, telling himself he was just a little nuts, and went back to training  
  
Nokia pulled on the bathrobe and pressed a button, a maid arrived minutes later. Nokia was thankful her hair was hidden in a towel  
  
"How may I help you?" the polite mechanical response was annoying  
  
"I have five hundred dollars for you. I need you to go out and get me a pair of size twelve jeans, a size fourteen shirt, anything will do. Some blonde hair die and a coat as well, I'll give you the money" she handed the maid a few large bills and smirked as the woman hurried out.  
  
Bulma sighed as she stared at Sheme, The boy was busy drawing, all he ever drew was his sister. Miko on her bike, Miko holding him, Miko smiling, Miko fighting, Miko happy, Miko sad, always Miko. She did not see this as healthy but he could not be prized from his pencil and paper even with Vegeta's strength, he always found a way. She sniffed a little as her eyes began to burn, how she missed Miko, the girl had left such a hole in her heart.  
  
Miko stepped onto the street in a pair of dark blue jeans and a red halter neck top, it was a little revealing but it did not bother her as she jogged with the speed of a sprinter out of the city. She smiled as the ground disappeared. She had no idea where she was going or what she planned to do but she was starting a new life, if it was on the other side of the world she would go there. Though flying that kind of distance presented a problem. She shrugged it off as she passed Sheme's school, to take off she had had to head in the opposite direction to where she wanted to go to get where eyes could not see. She blinked as a spec of red stood out beneath the throng of kids making their way out of school, she sighed sadly as her eyes began to sting. She blinked angrily and shot away to the west  
  
Piccolo smirked; King Kai was back to normal  
  
"Little vixen, after all I did for her" he grumbled, he suddenly grinned in a way he had picked up from Goku  
  
"But she was still hot"  
  
*  
  
Miko landed somewhere in a little place called Nepal. It seemed like the perfect place to live in peace  
  
Authors note: yeah well, she's back, have fun with the aftermath  
  
CHAPER THIRTY-TWO: The aftermath  
  
Piccolo scowled  
  
"You have to find her Piccolo, her mind is as healed as it can be by the powers of the other world, but no more can be done for her unless she resolves old hurts, she will quickly go mad again, and much, much more lethal than before, bloodlust, and darkness, incredible darkness"  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"As to that I do not know specifically, but she is somewhere near a mountain range, somewhere deserted, and certainly not in Japan" he scowled and took off  
  
Miko was busy meditating, in her unaware state, deep in the recesses of her mind, her heart and metabolism and her body's needs slowed down so completely she could go for days without food and survive the cold easily on body fat, not that she had much. Thankfully, females have a layer of fat beneath the skin as extra insulation, human females anyway.  
  
Piccolo smirked, Miko was not easy to find but with King Kai's help he at least knew which country she was in. He felt a small pulsing ki, the way ki felt when in a deep state of meditation, it had to be Miko because no one else besides himself could meditate in such a way. It was deep and powerful and all around rather relaxing. He had never tried to teach anyone because they never expressed an interest in the deeper forms. Miko on the other hand had simply copied his position to annoy him, she had mimicked it so perfectly, even manipulating her ki to match his own, (where she got the power and skill he did not know) seeing this he simply began telling her what to do, surprisingly enough she listened, being a good little pupil and eventually convincing him over a two month period to actually train her. He smirked; the little vixen was clever, she knew how to get what she wanted. And by way of revenge for his harsh treatment, she had gone all out without thought of gaining strength, simply beating the crap out of him, the bruising had taken weeks to fully go away.  
  
Miko blinked, rising back into awareness for some reason. The reason was in fact standing right in front of her. She Jumped up and backed away  
  
"Oh no" she raised her hands, her eyes wide  
  
Piccolo calmly took a step towards her  
  
"Look, I'm only here because King Kai told me to find you, he says you have to resolve old conflict or else you will go completely nuts" she jumped into the air. He sighed and followed her.  
  
Miko snarled hatefully as he overtook her easily  
  
"Look, if I had my way you'd still be dead" She scowled and shot away again. His hands closed around her wrists, she pulled and struggled, but he was nearly ten times her strength  
  
"Don't make this any harder" he growled  
  
She gave up after half an hour, breathing hard she fell out of the sky and impacted the solid ice. He hauled her to her feet and half dragged half carried her into the air.  
  
Piccolo scowled, she did not appreciate being thrown over his shoulder and was making it rather painful, he rearranges her so he had her the middle of her back and the back of her knees. She relaxed and sort of curled against him, this annoyed him but the fact she was not struggling was enough to keep him quiet. He noticed for the first time how small she was. Really only five foot nine at the most; tiny for a warrior. He realised with a jolt she was asleep, her head resting on his collarbone and her arms against his chest. He stare at her face and smiled. Whether he admitted it or not, he was fond of her, it was like having a little sister. Killing her was one of the hardest things he had ever done. But she was strong and courageous even when there was no chance of surviving. He smiled again as she shifted, murmuring in sleep something that sounded suspiciously like the name of a certain triclops. Her hands clenched and unclenched from where they were twined in the thick white material of his cape. He smirked again as the lookout came into view  
  
Miko awoke with a jolt and fell out of a pair of arms. She hit the white below her with a painful thud. She got up and wiped the small trickle of blue blood making it's way out of her left nostril and from both her lips. The aches of bruises passed within a few seconds. She scowled as Dende emerged  
  
"So King Kai was not trying to trick me then" he said quietly. Miko scowled  
  
"Why exactly am I here?" the young namek smiled  
  
"By request of King Kai, we need to let the others know you are alive and well, and mean no one any harm" she raised an eyebrow, still rather sleepy, she had not slept in a long time, preferring to meditate, at least she could escape her dreams that way.  
  
"And just what makes you think I want them to know?" she said dangerously, her most recent nightmare still hanging in her mind.  
  
"Well it's a bit late now" the voice of Vegeta cut through her sleepy haze. She scowled and stepped close to Dende, narrowing her eyes and showing her canines ever so slightly, he gulped and took a step back, she felt a hand on her shoulder  
  
"Leave the little runt, he's not worth the effort" She turned to snarl at Piccolo. He too backed off  
  
Tien looked up as Goku and Gohan landed  
  
"What are you doing here?" They grinned a little  
  
"Dende wants us all up at the lookout"  
  
"How come" Gohan shrugged but Goku grinned knowingly. Tien shrugged to himself and nodded to Chou zu. They all blasted into the air  
  
Goku couldn't help but grin. Tien was going to get a surprise apparently; he (being Goku) had no idea what it was. He shrugged it off as they neared the lookout.  
  
Miko scowled as she felt Goku and Gohan approach, and another ki. She turned to snarl at Dende  
  
"You bastard" she raised her hand to have it caught by the older namek again.  
  
Piccolo had a hard time stopping her from ripping Dende to shreds, he caught a lucky opening and caught her in a strangle hold. She writhed and kicked and screeched like a banshee straight from the depths of hell, but that was most likely where she had been these past few weeks so it was understandable. He suffered quite a few claw marks and bruises for his efforts. In the end he just knocked her onto the ground and pressed a knee between her shoulder blades, all the while Vegeta sniggered  
  
"Well you try if you're so strong" he made the mistake of removing his knee. She shot out from underneath and dealt a ringing blow to his left cheek, her small fist and immediately afterwards, foot, sending him crashing onto the tiles  
  
Miko sat down where she was, defeat and frustration, governing her thoughts, the three kis were getting closer.  
  
Tien landed to see the rest of the Z fighters waiting. And somewhere to the right was  
  
"Miko?" she did not look up, resting her forehead on one raised knee, perfectly still. He found millions of emotions come bubbling to the surface, anger, hatred, need desire, sorrow, grief, violation, fear, gods so much fear. This must have shown on his face because Goku placed a hand on his shoulder  
  
"Take it easy, she didn't get a choice in this either" Goku's tone was quiet and serious  
  
Miko did not raise her head, though she heard her name said. Dende went through a brief illustration of how she got back. Little was said about history but she could see it in on their faces.  
  
"She deserves another chance" she jumped to her feet angrily  
  
"You think I want "another chance"? I do not give a dam about this ugly little ball of rock. The fact is, my life is gone, my little brother thinks I'm dead! How can I walk up to him, do you have any idea what that does to a kid! And you just expect all of this to go away, what you think because I'm back that I'm not evil, that I'm not out to get you, you think you know me so well" she was speaking to Dende now  
  
"You don't know the first thing about me, for all you know I could be playing you for a fool, gathering power to kill you all in one blast" they all visibly tensed at this.  
  
After some debate many of the Z fighters left. In the end, Miko was alone with only one other fighter  
  
"You sure?" Chou zu asked  
  
"Yeah" Tien nodded  
  
"I need to sort this out, it's driving me crazy"  
  
Authors note: ok so I don't mind Miko all that much, but it was still fun to kill her, several times ;)  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: The truth-exposed before my biggest fear  
  
Miko was sitting on the steps up to the palace when she heard footsteps approach her  
  
"Leave me alone" she said flatly, some one sat next to her, her bent head meant she could not see them though she knew who it was  
  
"Why?" she smirked  
  
"You were gullible, vulnerable, easy to toy with, and downright amusing"  
  
Tien blinked, that stung  
  
"Nice try, the truth this time"  
  
"Fine, I hated you, saw your attraction to me, played on that, almost seduced you if you hadn't been too scared of me, though you would have found it worth your while then took my revenge and paid the ultimate price" Tien frowned, then smirked, something very uncharacteristic of him  
  
"Liar" she snorted  
  
"What? You think I honestly liked you? You wouldn't even be worth it for the fun, if I thought you were any good" she added as an after thought, adding insult to injury  
  
"You like to lie don't you Miko" she could hurt him as much as she liked, he was not going anywhere  
  
"The truth Miko" he told he sternly. She sighed then chuckled  
  
"You don't give up do you?"  
  
"Nope, now the truth" she snickered quietly  
  
"At first I thought you'd be good in the sack, but obviously my views changed pretty quickly, you're so clumsy fully clothed I had serious doubts about the opposite, other than that it was fun to mess with your head" he grinned stupidly  
  
"Miko, you hurt me so bad your insults don't work anymore, you can lie all night, I'll just wait until you're ready to be honest" suddenly her hands were around his throat and she was hissing and snarling in his face  
  
"You think you know me" she hissed  
  
"You couldn't tell me from a ditz with an orange sized brain" her grip tightened, he removed it easily. This did not please her one bit. He was past the point of really caring how she felt, he just wanted to know, and if she was as hard and cold and she would lead him to believe she had not done a good job. He sat back up from where she had temporarily pinned him and release her wrists, this too did not please her as her hand immediately raked across her face  
  
Miko spent three hours telling him anything she could think of, she did not have the energy to be convincing or even to hit him again, fighting Piccolo and depression at the same time was too much  
  
"Just leave me alone" she moaned, she heard a cruel chuckle  
  
"Now we're getting somewhere, it hurts doesn't it? To have some one know you so well you can't hide from them, to have some one get inside your head for a change"  
  
"Go away before I say something you'll regret" she said dangerously, she suddenly felt warm breath in her ear, she shivered involuntarily  
  
"See?" he whispered in her ear, she couldn't help the way her body reacted, her pulse increased and her nerves jangled  
  
"You want me as much as I wanted you, you can't help it can you? You're afraid" his fingertips traced their way up her spine to touch the base of her neck, she couldn't breathe. How she hated him for doing this to her, stealing her control. She scowled and moved away a few inches  
  
"You're afraid" he half chuckled half whispered.  
  
Tien couldn't help but toy with her, it felt both good and bad to make her feel this way, the good part felt the lust of revenge and the control she had always wielded. But the bad part was he was hurting her, he didn't want to  
  
"Will you tell me the truth now?" she turned her head to smirk at him  
  
"Easy prey" she said simply  
  
* Miko awoke in an unfamiliar bed. She blinked a few times and realised from the shape of the wall and the colour that she must be in the lookout. She suddenly remembered, she had eventually fallen asleep on the steps. Tien wouldn't leave her alone. She groaned as she realised he was asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. She slipped out and slipped past him, a hand closed around her wrist  
  
"Nice try" the contact made her shiver and shudder at exactly the same moment.  
  
Tien frowned, suddenly realising she was trembling, her breathing coming in short high gasps. He released his grip, cursing himself, he had let his anger get the better of him last night, he had been cruel, he should have known she wouldn't stand up to interrogation. She went to step away but he caught her arm again, albeit a little more gently.  
  
Miko scowled as Tien pulled he onto the arm of the chair  
  
"Miko, stop lying to me" he told her sternly, obviously he had hardened after the emotional thrashing she had given him, she, on the other hand had gone soft, weak, weak, weak. The words chased each other around inside her head  
  
"About what?"  
  
"The truth" his gaze was calm and uncompromising. Her core was crumbling. She smirked  
  
"So pathetic" she said softly, smirking a little, tracing the shape of his nose with her finger, giving the impression of a cruel mistress with a pet  
  
"The truth, now"  
  
It took another hour before she gave him some shred of truth  
  
"Just go away" she moaned, his hand still held onto her arm lest she decide to take off  
  
"Not until you tell me, you know as well as I do I have a right to know"  
  
"Just leave me alone" she whispered, he could see tears forming in her eyes, he himself had no more left, he had nothing but anger inside of him and was still fighting the urge to hurt her, badly.  
  
"One more time, you tell me now and I'll leave you alone"  
  
"What you want to hear is not necessarily the truth, what you want to hear s that I'm just a dark twisted insane little bitch who fell under your spell and had already formulated this little plan, and of course you found out about it after she had decided to abandon it. Therefore proving to your sad little mind and broken heart that you had found true love and don't have to worry about It anymore, so you can be the gracious one and forgive her" he gave a smile that almost turned into a snarl. He held himself in check and leaned his head next to her. She was shaking, with what he was not exactly sure  
  
"Please" he whispered in her ear. She broke down into sobs, he blinked in surprise  
  
"I couldn't let myself start caring about you. You wormed your way into me head and refused to leave. Being so dam sweet and attentive, I had to get away from you" she sobbed, trying but failing abysmally to contain her emotion  
  
"Then why betray me?"  
  
"Evil, maliciousness, it's my safety guard" he blinked. On impulse Tien lifted her by the waist, noticing how thin she had gotten and set her on his lap. Her sobs had quieted and she was no longer crying with any volume  
  
Miko remained silent as his arms curled low about her waist and set her on his knees. He sighed deeply and rested his chin on her shoulder, his cheek was warm against her ear  
  
"Are you sorry you did it?" she blinked  
  
"No" he froze from where his hands had been curling back around her waist  
  
"But I felt it even more than you did"  
  
Tien frowned  
  
"How so?" it was odd, they were speaking almost conversationally, he was still at war with more than one urge, he wanted to kill her and he wanted to kiss her, hold her, take her away to a place no one would find them and just be, forever with her. He blinked and wondered where that train of thought came from  
  
"I did love you, every minute I loved you, Gods I wanted you, it hurt to love you because I don't know how to love anyone in that way, but I did, you wormed your way into my mind and you wouldn't go, it hurt because I was scared, terrified, and because it hurt to hurt you. And I paid the ultimate price in the end. My only real friend knows me as dead; I can't go back to him now. I had no idea what to do, I was confused; when you don't know how to love, even caring for some one is painful. I have nothing now, my life wasn't great but I had something, now I have nothing at all" she said all this tonelessly and expressionlessly. On impulse Tien brushed his lips against her ear lobe  
  
"You've still got me" he whispered. She froze  
  
Miko slowly turned her head to stare at him, every nerve in her body jangling. He was watching her carefully, his hand slowly pulling her against him. She instinctively curled against him, much like a cat with her head resting just below his chin. It occurred to her how tired she was. An old habit of sleeping anywhere, any time died hard.  
  
Tien blinked in surprise, her eyes were closed and her whole body was vibrating, he realised with a surprised jolt that she was purring, he lowered his head so it was next to her face, sure enough, there was a steady quiet, feline purr coming from her throat, quieting slightly as she inhaled. He also realised she was fast asleep. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled a little, she was more of a small child than he thought, noticing the way she curled up, it was so much like a cat he had to wonder if she had feline DNA or something, but her nature was unknown to him so he had no idea. Now that Tien thought about it, she was very feline, he had seen it so many times. But never before had he heard her purr. It was odd to say the least but it seemed to suit the way she snuggled against him, making a small ball remarkable for her height. And still managing to rest her head under his. He kissed her slightly dulled hair and closed his own eyes.  
  
*  
  
Miko awoke and realised before anything else that she was purring, it had been a long time since she had, it was more automatic than something one intended to do so turning it off took a bit of remembering. This done she realised she was curled into a little ball on some one's lap. Arms were around her and some one was breathing evenly in her ear. She realised with a jolt it was Tien. As carefully as she could she removed one arm. His eyes opened and he jumped  
  
Tien yawned as reality flooded back into his mind, for the first time in months he had slept peacefully, and to wake up to a feline ball of drop dead gorgeous girl in your arms is a rather pleasing thing indeed. He smiled warmly at her, not realising she had been trying to move away.  
  
"Sleep well?" he teased, she turned her head away and leaned back against him  
  
"I never knew you could purr" this resulted in a short burst of rattling sleepy vibrations, he grinned  
  
"Automatic, since I was a kid" she said sleepily. He frowned  
  
"What triggers it?" he was curious to learn about this rather cute quirk. She shrugged and sort of leaned against him, the way a cat arches it's back almost  
  
"You should be able to figure it out" he grinned  
  
"And you can switch it on and off?"  
  
"I have to think about it but yeah"  
  
"Where'd you get it from?" she was answering in casual sentences, no malice in her voice, perhaps a little annoyance at his questions but he wanted to know.  
  
"A wild cat taught me" he frowned  
  
"How?"  
  
"I asked, it answered" now he was confused  
  
"You can speak to animals?"  
  
"No, I can sing to them" her sarcasm was almost good natured, but not quite  
  
"How?"  
  
"I was a wild kid, ran away more times than you can count, acted more like a cat than a human kid"  
  
"What else can you do" a cat like growl followed a feral one, a high pitched and threatening hiss, he noticed also she moved her ears when she did this, and several more animal noises  
  
"Cool" she shrugged  
  
"I didn't learn to speak until age six" he gaped  
  
"But you don't sound like it"  
  
"Oh I could understand from age one, I just couldn't speak"  
  
Miko shifted slightly, soaking up the warmth he generated. His arms wrapped around her again, she shivered a little and involuntarily began to purr again, this earned a little chuckle from Tien as she wriggled so her head sat in the hollow where his neck and head joined. Being in a feline mood she naturally required much more sleep than normal, quite the opposite of her normal four hour requirements, four and a half if she was tired. Her body seemed to adapt to whatever way she trained it in most things, and for a cat it was sleeping wherever, whenever. She slipped into dreamland again  
  
Tien smiled as her whole body vibrated slightly, it gave an odd feeling to any part of him that was in contact with her, making the nerves go slightly numb then stopping after he got used to it. He sat with her that way for maybe an hour  
  
*  
  
Miko woke up feeling relaxed and calm, she turned to smile at Tien, she really had no idea what to do or where this was going to go.  
  
"So, where are we headed?" he asked gently, reading her thoughts. She smiled and leaned in to steal away his breath, she could see him wondering where it had gone  
  
"I have absolutely no idea, but I'm in for the ride" she said mischievously, he grinned and his hands found their way to the base of her neck, tilting her head upwards.  
  
Tien kissed her gently, loving her taste. She was sweet and intoxicating and thrilling and dangerously compelling all at the same time. Her hands made their way up to hold his head in much the same way he held hers. Gentle turned into heated then down right fiery. He was gasping for breath when she released him.  
  
"Listen I'm going to get a place in the city" she was unsure as to why she was discussing this him but Miko supposed if it was going to be real this time then it would be easier to talk to him more openly  
  
"Ok" he sounded surprised  
  
"What I wanted to know was." She searched for the right words, he frowned  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you want to join me?" he blinked  
  
"What do you mean?" she sighed at his blatant innocence, unsure as to why she hadn't seen it the first day she tempted him  
  
"Move in with me?" she repeated in terms he would understand. He seemed a little taken aback, if a hanging jaw was any clue. She closed it by nipping at his lower lip, he tensed at her playful antics  
  
"We don't have to share a room if that's what you're worried about" she said softly, slightly disappointed.  
  
Tien wondered, he was more than a little afraid but it seemed ludicrous that he, one of the two strongest human fighters in the universe should be scared of the green and tan purring ball that was curled up in his arms, but he was. She looked rather hurt, but he was still wary of how genuine she was, he decided to be as nice about it as possible  
  
"You know, maybe we should just wait and see" she shrugged but her eyes were hurt. He shrugged it off and settled for kissing her again  
  
*  
  
Miko found herself an apartment easily enough, she had decided not to go back to work, but rather to tell her agent she was taking six months off, if they lived that long. As she pulled out the case of capsules Bulma had prepared for her (Bulma had been told by Vegeta and immediately come up to welcome her just as she had been going to leave the lookout) she threw down the capsule containing all her clothes and various possessions Bulma had collected for her, she had still left plenty of stuff at Capsule Corp, she had no purpose for it. And Bulma had also told her that Sheme would always go and sit in her old room all the time. Miko sighed; her heart was breaking every second she thought about Sheme. She suddenly realised she had no furniture. She made a note to go out tomorrow and get something. For now her old beanbag would do to sleep on, it was an old favourite from her childhood when she refused to use a bed.  
  
Tien blinked a few times, he realised he had been asleep. He ascertained he must have dropped off on the couch at Capsule Corp. He did not know why he was sleeping so much all of a sudden. He yawned and stretched. Intending to head back to Kame house.  
  
*  
  
Miko curled up on the small bean bag and immediately dropped into a restless sleep  
  
"Ahh, sister, you have returned to life" Miko looked wildly about her  
  
"What the hell" she muttered. The darkness melted into a fun house of mirrors and memories, she started to run, her breathing coming in hard scared gasps in time with her pounding feet, her reflection made grotesque shapes all around her, she hit a dead end, spinning and smashing her way through a maze of mirrors, she knew this world all too well, there was no escape  
  
"Join me" she swung around, and was shoved so hard she fell into a mirror, smashing her head into the glass, she screamed as the shards suddenly rose up and drove themselves into her skin  
  
"HELP" she screamed, no one came, suddenly there was a new face there, one with three eyes. Smiling cruelly  
  
"Revenge, my turn" it whispered, taking her by the shoulders with arms she could not see  
  
CAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Ice-frozen solid  
  
Miko awoke in a cold sweat, all her clothes were soaked and her hair was plastered to her head. She calmed her breathing slowly. She got up and scowled, heading for the bathroom, which was pretty much empty, she took a towel from the stack she had decapsulised a while ago and took a hot shower, a very hot one. Stepping out with her hair hanging limp and wet she shivered, pulling on some clothes. It was nine pm so she could still go somewhere without too much trouble. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep all that well after the psychotic dream, it was by far the worst she had ever had, and the presence of a three eyed some one was what made it so much more unbearable  
  
Nokia strolled along the lit street, her wallet in the back pocket of her jeans. She strode into a fast food joint and ignored the stares she was getting, she was used to it now, her style of dress attracted many eyes, some jealous, some offended, some hungry, some just plain horny. She ordered the greasiest thing she could find and stuffed it into her frame, junk food had a way of calming her nerves. She spent the whole night wandering around, and getting into more than one brawl.  
  
* Miko stepped into the swanky store with an air of distaste. Immediately a smarmy man approached  
  
"May I help you?" he said in an oily, well trained voice, his face a mixture of attraction and distaste as he eyed her quickly. Her clothing was not befitting of a millionaire but it was also rather pleasing to the eye. She smiled sweetly  
  
"I just moved into a new condo and Daddy says I have to get new furniture and stand on my own two feet. But he says he'll buy me anything I want, can you help?" she blinked and widened her eyes, going into ditz mode.  
  
The salesman grinned greedily, he loved people like this, especially ones who were so hot, she reminded him of some one but he did not know where from. He made for the most expensive part of the store, this would be easy  
  
Miko enjoyed toying with the man. She ditched him after an hour and left. Of course she came back ten minutes later and was attended by a female assistant who, though a little uppity was much more likable. She emerged with three maxed out credit cards and a long list of things to buy. She shrugged to herself. She never knew a couch could cost that much but it was just what she wanted. *  
  
Tien took a deep breath and knocked on the mahogany door. She had certainly chosen a posh building, but then again, he knew so little about who she really was so he did not know if this was what she liked or not  
  
Miko was busy placing a painting on the wall above her gas fire when she heard a quiet knock, she frowned and stepped up the cute little steps to the door. She opened it and inhaled silently  
  
Tien smiled at her surprise  
  
"Hi" she grinned a little and stepped back, pulling the door open a little wider  
  
"Come in" she said quietly. He stepped inside and gaped.  
  
The spacious living room was sunny with windows taking up perhaps half the walls, it had a sunken circular piece in the centre with two steps leading down to it, around the edges that went from a meter to two meters width there were a few chair positioned in the sun and a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony covered in millions of flowers. There was a cosy feel to the centre of the room, with big squashy chairs and a bold blue couch, the French vanilla walls and creamy carpets gave a light simple feel. On the walls there were about ten different paintings, they all looked similar and varied in mood from light and bright to dark and moody. There were lights set into the roof and a small glass table covered in papers and pens and what looked like pages and pages of scrawl, and something official looking as well.  
  
Miko indicated the couch and stepped into the compact kitchen  
  
"You want a drink" she flicked a switch on he wall a cup of black coffee appeared for herself  
  
"Water, thanks" she shrugged and filled a glass. The kitchen was state of the art and pretty much everything folded out or appeared at the flick of a switch  
  
Tien smiled as she reappeared from the hallway that sort of curved out of sight, she handed him a blue patterned glass and sank into a squashy green vinyl armchair that enfolded her perfectly  
  
"So what's been happening?" he knew what she was asking  
  
"Sheme is doing better. Maybe if Bulma explained to him." he was trying to be encouraging, she shrugged, though her eyes were sad, he noticed how the sunlight made her glow, looking somewhat like an angel,  
  
How ironic  
  
Light and truth were not always as correct as they thought they were  
  
"We'll see" he got up and went to hug her. She did not move or return this gesture of comfort, he sat on his knees in front of her, his collarbone about level with her calves which were hooked up underneath her  
  
"It'll be ok" he told her, She smiled and kissed him softly, slow and sweet, it left a taste he could not get enough of on his lips. She smiled at this and kissed him again, this time less gently and more invitingly. Gods it was hard to resist, but he was also scared  
  
Tien stayed for an hour. He left with a parting embrace. Miko sighed sadly and went to finish fixing up her room. It was a medium sized room with bamboo doors that opened onto another much smaller and more closed in balcony. She had chosen a rich creamy yellow for the walls and soft lavender for the carpets. Her double bed was covered in a simple orange, red, green, and purple duvet with matching sheets. A room to the right housed a secondary bathroom and another door was a spare room she used as an art studio, her apartment was full of self portraits, it helped to examine herself when she separated each piece of herself and looked at it, touched it, spoke to it.  
  
*  
  
Life settled into a routine, Tien and Miko were not what one would call "together"; they barely saw each other. But it was a sort of mutual agreement that it was what each needed. One example of this happened several days later  
  
Tien picked up the phone  
  
"Hello?" Miko voice sounding rather strained came through the receiver  
  
"Hi.listen-" he cut her off  
  
"I'll be over in a few minutes" he flew into the city. When he entered her apartment he immediately sensed how low her ki was  
  
"You ok?" she was curled up in the armchair, pale and shivering. He crossed the room in a split second, kneeling beside her, she shook her head. He swept her into a hug, lifting her right out of the armchair and seating himself on it, resting her on his lap. She sobbed into his shirt for a while. He blinked, she was as cold as ice  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Cold, cold, ice  
  
Miko shivered, his body heat was gradually warming her. He held her tightly. She sobbed for a while until she regained control of herself. He kissed her forehead softly  
  
"What happened" she could see his eyes scanning her quickly for any sign of injury, had she not been so cold she would have snorted, but she was so cold, Gods she was so cold  
  
"Nightmare" she croaked. He blinked and immediately nodded  
  
Tien held her for another few hours, knowing her dream must have had something to do with him. He remembered all too well how the aftermath of such a dream felt. In the end he slept beside her, holding her close all night, it was just as much a comfort to him as he knew it was to her. It took until morning but her ki recovered and her body temperature rose back to normal, but he could see it in her eyes, she was scared, terrified  
  
Miko tried to smile but her face was fixed in a taut mask of fear. She had never been so afraid in her whole life. But it felt good to have some one beside her, however innocent it was. She was in no state to take anything further, though she doubted he would go along with it anyway. As morning claimed the sky she slipped away from his sleeping form. She dressed quickly in the thickest and warmest clothing she could find, more for comfort than warmth, she doubted any clothing would make her feel warmer, there was a yawn behind her as she perched on her side of the bed, sipping a scalding cup of coffee.  
  
Tien awoke to see Miko in a thick jersey with a beanie on her head. He reached out and caught her around the waist, she jumped violently, almost spilling black liquid everywhere. A single drop landed on his hand, it hurt a bit but was so hot it evaporated. He wondered how Miko managed to drink the stuff. She turned around and smiled, almost with relief. She lay back down and snuggled against him. He realised she was purring ever so softly, so softly in fact it was actually pleasant to the touch when she did. He wondered whether she meant to or not. He left after a few hours of silence. Little did he know he would have to call on her in much the same way rather soon.  
  
*  
  
Miko took a deep breath and waited. Sheme was sitting with his back turned, he turned around and froze as she approached  
  
Sheme slowly digested the sight before him, he was sure he was dreaming, tears started to roll down his cheeks  
  
"Sheme?" she said softly, he could see her eyes brimming. He jumped up to smother her in a hug, sobbing freely into her shoulder  
  
"Gods I missed you" Miko murmured, a few tears escaping her eyes. Sheme did not let go for a long time  
  
"Am I dreaming?" he whispered in her ear. Miko sniffed as she tried to breathe through her own sobs  
  
"No" she whispered  
  
"If you were I would be pinching myself right now" what she had said made little sense to her but she said it simply because she was so relieved and so scared and so happy and so sad and confused and muddled all at the same time that saying something that made such little sense was the only way to express it, she sat down heavily in the long grass, still holding her little brother as if he were her own child  
  
"Where were you?" Miko sat down next to him in the long grass, he loved places like this, it was one of the more neglected parts of the estate  
  
"Well, I was dead" he frowned  
  
"You see Sheme, but you can't tell anybody this, no one at all. There are these things called Dragonballs"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"And if you find them all, you can bring people who have died in certain ways back to life, but it takes a while to find them, no one wanted to get your hopes up" That was the first time Miko had outright lied to Sheme, sure she sugar coated some things so he would understand but most of this was blatant lies, he nodded, hugging her so tightly she felt as if she would pop  
  
"Ok, Sheme, I want you to stay here. But I'll see you every single day whenever you want"  
  
*  
  
Miko opened the door and her eyes widened. Tien was standing there, looking as if he'd been through the battle of his life, his lips were almost blue and his face was white. She immediately pulled him inside.  
  
Tien was in a daze, he barely remembered much, he had somehow found his way to her apartment even though he could barely see for shock. He remembered hot water and some one peeling off his clothes, hands leading him around, hands covering him with something warm, something hot being forced down his throat.  
  
Miko sat on her knees, rocking Tien backwards and forwards with the fire on full. It was nearly midnight and he was so cold she felt sure he should be frozen solid. After a while he came out of his zombie like state and blinked at her  
  
Tien blinked. He felt much warmer, but he was still shivering, perhaps it was the fact he remembered parts of what had happened, and the parts he remembered were painting a picture he did not totally understand, what had happened?  
  
"You alright now?" he just stared at her  
  
"What happened?" she smiled warmly, this seemed to generate more warmth in him than the blazing fire ever could  
  
"You just turned up. You were freezing, I had to shove you in a hot shower, wrap you up, we've been in front of the fire for over an hour now" he frowned  
  
"Nothing else?" she smiled, understanding what he was asking  
  
"Not if I had my way but no, nothing else" a surge of something ran through him, it was almost as if he were disappointed about it. He wondered why, he was afraid wasn't he? Was he?  
  
Her hands were around his neck, rubbing his shoulder blades softly, he realised she was humming as he lay his head against her front, this contact was no longer comforting, but more set his nerves jangling, and wanting  
  
Miko realised he was taut and there was something strange in his pulsing ki, it was, she suddenly smiled, beginning to tug at his shirt.  
  
(And unless you haven't noticed Miko's thought processes and various advances you will be able to guess what happened next)  
  
*  
  
Tien felt her arms wrap around his waist  
  
"Told you it would be worth your while" she said, her fingers making circular motions.  
  
"Well it certainly warmed me up" she smiled and kissed him softly  
  
"Say good bye to virginity" he grinned, placing his own arms around her to pull her against him.  
  
"What was your dream about?" her eyes were gentle and full of calm, he realised that in the short space of time they had been physically joined she had released much of the tension between them  
  
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" she tensed for a second but nodded  
  
"But first let's get under some covers huh?" he nodded, getting up and lifting her off the ground, she did not seem to mind this as she snuggled against him, still purring quietly.  
  
Once under the covers of her bed Miko wrapped herself up in Tien's bulk. She had never cared for, nor found such an inexperienced lover before, but for some reason she did not care, it would be fun to teach him  
  
"Go on" he prompted  
  
"You first" she teased, her toes sliding up and down his leg, he grinned and slid a hand down and caught her ankle, the purr became louder and looser as she wriggled her toes. He began  
  
"Well It's got a lot to do with you so don't take it the wrong way" she nodded, suddenly noticing his body temperature drop a few degrees, she hooked her legs about the back of his knees and pulled him closer, this seemed to warm her again  
  
"Well, it's like this weird blackness, and I keep seeing you, only it's not you, it's like all these different people with the same appearance, some good some evil, some downright frightening" She nodded, with him so far  
  
"And then it sort of turns into this strange war, like I see half of you fighting the other half and some one else, stuck in the middle, there's dark everywhere then it melts into some sort of fun house, only it's in mirrors and your reflection is-" Tien blinked, she had gone as cold as ice  
  
"You somehow latched onto my dream" she whispered. He gaped, feeling himself go cold. Gods he was so cold.  
  
Miko shivered  
  
"And another one, dagger, rose" she half whispered, missing words through her sluggish tongue. He froze  
  
"With a blue and red ocean."  
  
"I stab you in the heart" she finished for him  
  
Tien suddenly need to be warm, he pulled her against him, combined body heat creating some warmth  
  
"I can't help but think this is not normal" he whispered. She nodded from where her head was buried in his chest.  
  
"I have weird effects on males, but nothing like this" he held her closer, unsure of what exactly to make of this. She snuggle under his chin, purring again, this was strangely comforting as the quiet rattling vibrations seemed to warm him up and calm his thumping heart.  
  
"I think perhaps" he said sleepily, he was no longer freezing but still cold  
  
"That we should be more careful next time" she tensed and turned to frown at him  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Miko wondered for a second what he meant  
  
"You could be..we didn't use." it hit home  
  
A/N: I didn't use a lemon scene for the simple reason that I suck at them. I'm sure you can make up something interesting to fill the gap.  
  
Ehehehehehehehe, this is my revenge for the absence of reviews. ehehehehehehehe 


	14. OH F IT! JUST GET THE GDDM DONKEEY OFF M...

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: Possibilities  
  
"Oh, oops" she smirked  
  
"Nothing will happen" he frowned  
  
"How?" it hit, his eyes widened in horror  
  
"You can't kill it if it exists, I wouldn't let you" she scowled  
  
"You couldn't stop me. No it's not like that anyway, you see-" she searched for the right words  
  
"I'm not human, I don't.work that way. I don't even know if I can have kids, but I can.control, well, that" he blinked  
  
"All the time?" she shook her head  
  
"Not, all the time, but the first time yes" he shrugged and grinned  
  
"Dam, I'm lucky to have you" she sighed, pressing closer to him  
  
"I don't know about that" she whispered as his hands curled about her waist.  
  
*  
  
Tien left in the morning, and then strange things began to happen to him.  
  
The next day he woke up feeling like the leavings of a dinosaur, one without a balance diet. He groaned to find his muscles would not respond. He managed to stand up with relatively little difficulty. He wobbled into the kitchen and suddenly felt sick, his stomach pitched at the thought of food. He staggered outside, feeling slow and clumsy. Chou came over from beating up Yamcha  
  
"You ok?" he shook his head, his vision starting to blur. The last thing he remembered was Chou zu yelling and the taste of blood in his mouth  
  
Miko jumped sending a large purple smear across her latest canvas. She screwed up her face in concentration. What was that? Suddenly it hit her  
  
Perfectly manicured nails picked at a piece of what could have been a cross between an apple and a chicken. A morsel of some sort  
  
"Sister" a voice hissed  
  
"Have you no pride?" the unknown piece of food was hurled across the room  
  
"Were the dreams not enough, you give of disrupting waves, your presence changes his mental state, you transferred your dreams to him, all without my help, but does it also go the other way I wonder? Such an interesting match, pity, he will have to die"  
  
Tien became aware of a hand holding his before anything else. His vision returned with a blue haze over everything. He blinked a few times as the sounds of computers and people passing by somewhere near trickled into his sense. He saw Yamcha, Chou zu, Goku, Gohan, and finally Miko, she was sitting next to him on a chair, his hand enfolded in hers. It was odd, his hand was nearly twice the size of hers and yet it felt as if it belonged there  
  
"What happened?" he was addressing no one in particular, Chou zu answered  
  
"We don't know, you passed out, coughing up blood and convulsing. Miko turned up almost a minute later. The others sensed your ki going haywire and showed up later on. We brought you here, they said you had massive internal bleeding, other than that they have no idea" Tien turned to Miko, somehow knowing she would have the answers, her face was pinched and taut and beyond the point of white, it looked more like a pale pasty blue "What happened?" he repeated. She took a deep breath, glaring at the others, all but Chou zu left, he glared back at her. Tien stayed right out of it  
  
"When we." Chou zu nodded, blushing slightly, Tien strangely enough was not embarrassed, Miko on the other hand had a tinge of blue to her cheeks  
  
"Well you were already somehow picking up on my dreams, or maybe I picked up on yours, I don't know, but either way it's more than just empathic, it actually physically effects us. You know how cold it is" Tien nodded, shivering. Chou zu was frowning  
  
"Over the past few months both of us have had similar dreams, for some reason they affect both me and Tien to the point that body heat drops to below zero degrees, literally. Last time it happened, I had to shove his hand in a gas fire, the fire went out" Chou zu gaped. She felt Tien squeeze her hand gently, trying to reassure, him she had not told him about this before, she had not wanted to worry him  
  
"And, after we." Chou zu just nodded  
  
"I found out, for some reason it happens, and I'm only guessing but, I think he may be catching my memories as well"  
  
Now Chou zu was really confused  
  
"What would that have to do with injuries" she took another deep breath, he could feel her brainwaves becoming more erratic  
  
"I was a wild kid, prone to seizures, which were in fact my twins injuries, I suffered a lot of what she did, Tien has somehow caught onto the memory of one of these instances"  
  
"How do we block it?"  
  
"I don't know"  
  
"How come you haven't caught any of his?"  
  
"I don't know"  
  
Miko sighed and kissed Tien's forehead. She knew which one this was. When she had been in gym class at age thirteen, she had just finished scaling the rock wall for the eighth time, going up and down playing pranks on the other kids as they tried to get to the top alone. She had not been afraid of falling because she had on a harness, however weak it was to her, she had tried in the past and found she could snap it if she pulled hard enough. She had had an attack right at the top, she had thrashed about so hard she broke the safety rope and fell. She left cracks in the polished hardwood floor and crushed most of her ribs in the process. She gingerly pulled up Tien's shirt, as she had predicted there were several lumps from unhealed ribs and heavy bruising. Chou zu gaped  
  
"So what can we do about it?" Tien asked, replacing his shirt, Miko shrugged  
  
"I don't know, maybe since you're telepathic, yes I knew you were" she answered his shocked face; he had not told her he and Chou zu were telepathic  
  
"Maybe because of that we can place a block or something, or else you'll have to sift through all my memories, and trust me, that would kill you"  
  
"Maybe Dende can help" her face darkened, Tien knew all too well the reason; Miko did not like Dende, and that was putting it lightly.  
  
Mio scowled again and thought hard  
  
"Unless."  
  
Tien blinked as Miko left the room, returning with a small bottle that looked as if it contained pills  
  
"My meds" she said expressionlessly  
  
"I never took them, they suppress schizophrenia, didn't work for me but they might for you" Chou zu was eying them up  
  
"I don't know, they may not work" Tien grinned "We could always ask Dende"  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Evil approaches-the weak shall fall  
  
As it happened, Tien did not need the meds, the dream ended and life returned to some semblance of normal. It had already been eight months, but no evil arrived  
  
A long sword swished through the air, slicing the unfortunate training partner in half  
  
"Mosta!" a short sturdily built green woman entered  
  
"What is wrong with the engines"  
  
"We have run out of almalgi core substance your majesty" there was a growl of annoyance  
  
"Well raid the nearest planet and get some"  
  
"Thank you your majesty" the woman scuttled away  
  
Miko sighed, Dende had been scouting about for a while  
  
"She has been stationary for over three weeks now"  
  
"Engine trouble" she grunted, somehow picking up on parts of her twin's thoughts"  
  
"How long?" Tien asked  
  
"It gives us another month maybe, but no more than that"  
  
* Tien frowned, the evil was so close, it would arrive in a days time. He wrapped his arms around Miko, sensing her tension. He decided to fix that, he could always tell when he truly had her  
  
Miko smiled indulgently as his teeth nibbled at her neck. Her throat began to vibrate, she couldn't help it when he did this. His lips move up to her ear, breathing softly. She smiled wider as his hands slid around her hips, his fingers joining each other just below her navel. She grinned and leant against him. It was fun to let him think he was the one doing the seducing. He could never resist her, she called the shots.  
  
Tien couldn't help but smirk, he had one hell of a catch, and the best thing was no one else could have her, only him. He smiled again. It had been a while since anything weird had happened, they went out perhaps twice a week, spent most nights together, and lived in calm peaceful togetherness, and after all the weird stuff both of them had gone through it was just what they needed. And all too soon it would be ending. He touched her shoulder with a fingertip, she moaned softly to acknowledge him, still purring, how he loved that sound  
  
"Listen, I have a surprise for you" she smiled, her hands slipping behind him to lock around the small of his back  
  
"Really" she said playfully  
  
"Nothing I haven't seen?" he chuckled and stepped back a few paces  
  
"Coming?" he asked a slight smile playing across his lips. She took his extended hand her lifted into the air, she flew next to him, she practised flying little now, so he steadied her with one hand, she carried her own weight but let him steer. She love to fly like this, the wind sent her hair whipping out behind her, she reached over and kissed Tien on the cheek, he glanced at her and grinned, his three eyes twinkling, Miko knew the purpose of this excursion, tomorrow she would face her twin.  
  
Tien landed next to Chou zu, the little guy nodded and took off with a laughing Sheme. Tien seated himself in front of the fire. Miko grinned as she settled herself next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He grinned as the thick curtain obscured his arm from view  
  
"Hey I thought we should make tonight special if anything happens tomorrow" he said quietly, Miko nodded  
  
Sitting around a fire all alone with Tien was extremely comforting, Miko was terrified of what might happen, so she would make the most of the time they had left, they had been together three months now, the happiest of her life, Miko had never asked for the responsibility of Sheme but she had him anyway, and Tien had been given Chou zu to guard, though she never found out why, she handed Tien the last hot dog, she had gotten him addicted to them and she wasn't at all hungry, he stared at her worriedly  
  
"You've hardly eaten anything"  
  
"I'm not hungry" he drew her into his arms  
  
"Hey don't worry, I've been through stuff like this more than once, I won't let anything happen to you ok" he told her softly, Miko wondered how Tien was getting on looking after Sheme, Tien had asked him to watch the kid tonight, he said he wanted to speak to her alone  
  
"What was it you wanted to say to me?" she asked softly  
  
"That I love you" he said after a pause, Miko felt her eyes widen  
  
"What?"  
  
"I love you" he repeated, fear flashing into his eyes. Miko reached up and kissed him intensely  
  
"I love you too" she whispered in his ear.  
  
Tien breathed a sigh of relief, his third eye forever on alert, he wrapped his arms around her protectively, setting her on his lap, she sighed contentedly, he kissed her cheek softly, enjoying the feel of her hair against his face.  
  
Miko settled into Tien's arms, she was an old fashioned girl at heart, he made the perfect arm chair. His arms twined from her shoulders to her waist, she leaned her head into his collarbone, he rested his chin on her shoulder, she smiled tiredly and whispered in his ear, his third eye focused on her "Tonight may be our last together" he nodded, and gently lifted her as he stood, she let her tired body rest on him as he lay her down on her bed and lay next to her, kissing her neck, she returned his kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes.  
  
Tien smiled as she fell asleep, not even purring, too worried, he was content to hold her, he himself was too worried to sleep, more worried than her, he wasn't afraid of dying, there were many times he would have laid down his life but didn't need to, and he had once already, but he was worried for Miko, she was more delicate than she would have people believe, she was also an incredible actress, he had seen proof of this more than once when she had him on, he still couldn't tell if she was messing with him or not, though she rarely did, she was serious by nature but she was passionate, when she loved some thing or some one she did so with incredible intensity, her little brother, flying once she got the hang of it, he still remembered the thrill of carrying her through the air by her waist, the way she laughed and stretched out full length, the wind sending her hair to tickle his chin, it had grown remarkably fast he thought, he had hardly recognized her with it dyed and sheared, but then that had been her intention when she ran from them. He grinned remembering the swim suit she had been modelling, how she had had the photographer so bedazzled he believed she was from some island off the coast, she had even faked a perfect foreign accent, only her curses had led him to figure out who she was. He pulled her closer to him as she murmured in sleep. Her hair fanned out under her.  
  
Authors note: Awwwwwwww, how sweet ^_^, dammit I'm so soppy  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Draw the line-step across it  
  
Miko awoke with arms around her; she smiled into the familiar bulk of Tien. She grinned and wriggled a little further up on the soft deerskin to kiss him awake, his eyes opened as she smiled into his lips. He pulled away and yawned  
  
"Morning" he said cheerily  
  
"I fell asleep"  
  
"I didn't mind, you look better asleep" Miko snorted indignantly, and shoved him off the deer skin, he yelped in surprise before collapsing into that deep laugh of his she heard only on occasion, he sat up and yawned, while she stayed under the soft furry double sided rug turned quilt he had made for her birthday, she smiled as he stretched and yawned, his rolling muscles providing a very satisfying sight  
  
"What're you lookin at?" he said jokingly, she grinned  
  
"Nothing, just a scrawny chunk of man" he sputtered indignantly  
  
"It was a compliment" she told him innocently, she heard a yawn as Chou zu awoke, he must have brought Sheme back after they had fallen asleep  
  
"Morning" she called, Tien yawned, and got to his feet, Miko grinned as he sat down next to her on the quilt  
  
"Listen Miko, no heroics ok, you're strong but you're still defenceless against most of the others, please, just stay back, we can handle this ok" Miko scowled  
  
"I'm the only hope for the earth remember? If you wanna stand a chance it has to be me who defeats her, and I mean come on, you should be happy, another one of me, all you could handle" she told him, trying to lighten the mood enough to get him off her case  
  
"No jokes, I couldn't stand to lose you" he said seriously, Miko sat bolt upright, thoroughly pissed off  
  
"And how do you think I would feel if you got hit huh!? If I die, I die with you!" she told him angrily  
  
Tien stared at her, she had not yelled at him for a long time, and she was scary when she yelled, he raised his hands in case she decided to hit him, he was in no mood for a reaction like that, if she decided to hurt him she would, and it would not be an easy task surviving  
  
"No Miko, I'll be fine but..I want you to stay out of it, you won't stand a chance" she jumped to her feet. He cringed  
  
"Excuse me! Then why might I ask are you cowering in fear then!" she spat. He jumped to his own feet  
  
"I can't protect you if something goes wrong, if I get stuck in a fight I can't watch out for you, I need to know you're safe, come on Miko! You don't stand a chance!" he suddenly jumped back as she hit him with all her might, he flew into a tree, leaving a large dent, the tree groaned and fell, he jumped up  
  
"See! You couldn't even send me straight through that tree! I couldn't handle seeing you hurt!" he said trying to reason with her, make her see he couldn't protect her in the heat of battle  
  
"I am the only hope for this planet, you expect me to stand by and just watch while you all die!" she screamed, Tien noticed Chou zu hiding behind a tree  
  
"If I wanted to I could just go with her and rule the universe" she said softly  
  
"But I won't, either way there's no way I can stay out of it, I'm the one she's after and I'm the only one who can beat her"  
  
"And just how are you going to do that!" Tien yelled  
  
"IF I KNEW I WOULDN'T BE WASTING MY TIME ARGUING WITH YOU!!" she shrieked, Tien was surprised. She hadn't sworn of yet  
  
"You ignorant idiot! Do you have any idea just how much I have thought about this, I hear her dreams, I know what she feels, I feel her pain, suffer her injuries, she's coming, I just can't hide, if I die I die fighting, there's no other way, either way I have to face her, there's no way around it, if I'm not with you she'll just rip you all apart and come after me, I won't have your blood on my hands without at least trying to stop it" she dropped her hands, no more words coming to her aid, Tien gaped, his mouth moving wordlessly. She turned away  
  
Don't make what could be our last day together like this" she pleaded, Tien shook his head, unable to accept she was his only hope, that he couldn't protect her, she looked over her shoulder  
  
"I'm sorry" she took off, flying more accurately than he had ever seen, he watched her go, when the tiny spec that was the best thing in his life disappeared  
  
Authors note: Yeah well, it was too cosy, you gotta have some fireworks, I could have made it louder or something but I wanted it to be more about love than anger, if you get what I mean.  
  
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: I face the dark-life extinguished  
  
Tien turned to see Chou zu peeking out from behind the tree  
  
"She was real mad" he stated the obvious in his childlike voice. Tien nodded sadly  
  
"I know Chou zu, come on, let's get packed up, the others want to meet in an hour or so, for a reunion, just in case" Chou zu nodded and they began packing what little belongings they had and needed  
  
Miko brushed away angry tears, why didn't he understand, she hadn't fought with him like this in a long time, once or twice in the first month of their relationship but never a screaming match to this magnitude. She closed her eyes. Realising she hadn't lost control once in the whole time since she had taken off  
  
"Damn you Tien! Damn you for making me love you" she shouted at the air, she had no idea where she was going except that she didn't want to get there, just keep flying, so far and so fast, until all her problems just forgot about her, and she could go back to her old insignificant self, without the burden of being "earth's only hope" a voice reverberated inside her head  
  
"Not now" she muttered, grinding her teeth savagely  
  
"Miko! What are you doing!"  
  
"Piss off!"  
  
"But Mik-"  
  
"Get out of my head" images of painful tortures shot back through the telepathic connection, she heard a yelp and everything went still, she closed her eyes, turning upwards, forgetting if only for a second all her troubles in the strong winds that sent her mid thigh length hair flying out around her head, she turned loops and performed aerial gymnastics with amazing skill, feeling air pressure pulling at her skin. She opened her eyes to see purple before she impacted something extremely hard. Her yelp of surprise was muffled as her nose smacked right into Piccolo's chest, she backed up rapidly and fell, her former skill deserting her, she scowled and crossed her arms, gravity overpowering her ki  
  
Piccolo growled as he realised she had no intention of saving herself, he swooped down after her, she fell neatly into his arms, he descended rapidly, dropping her as soon as his feet hit the ground  
  
"What did you think you were doing!" he told her sternly, she didn't seem to be listening, still sitting as he had dropped her, suddenly she buried her head in her hands, resting her arms on her knees, he groaned exasperatedly and knelt down beside her  
  
"What's wrong, you're not so weak landing on your rear would hurt that much" she didn't raise her head, sobbing quietly  
  
"Look at me" he ordered, lifting her head gently, she stared at him through swollen eyes, he inwardly groaned, he loathed tears, they embarrassed him, maybe this was one of the reasons he found himself less and less annoyed by Miko, he quickly learned once she opened up in the past that she too, loathed anything she perceived as weakness, when he thought about it, there were few times she genuinely cried, even when she faked it as well she did not particularly like it  
  
"What is it?" he persisted, she took a deep shuddering breath  
  
"Tien and I had a huge fight" Piccolo growled frustratedly  
  
"So, what're you worried about?"  
  
"For god's sake! I'm not like you, I can't just hide my emotions away forever, and it isn't helped by the fact the man I love started giving me orders this morning!!" she yelled, he found himself questioning that, she was very good at hiding her real emotions, and replacing them with certain ones that would get her what she wanted. He backed up a few inches, not used to an outburst of this kind from her, she normally swore more than she spoke articulate words, but he had learned soon enough she was more upset when she didn't swear  
  
"Listen, if he really loves you he'll come around, he's probably just worried" he said as comfortingly as he could without losing his liquid breakfast, she buried her head  
  
"Was it what I think it's about?" He asked gruffly, his deep voice rumbling against the tiny hiccups making her entire body shake, she nodded  
  
"He expects me to hide like a feeble little wimp, I'm not as strong as you guys but for Christ's sake she's my twin! He wants me to "stay right out of it, 'cos he can't protect me if he's locked in a battle! Come on, for god's sake I'm the one she's after, I have to face her some time!" she was yelling at him. Her cheeks pink from the effort of yelling after bawling her eyes out, Piccolo let her go, not really knowing what to say that would make her stop yelling at such close proximity to his sensitive ears without making her start blubbering again  
  
"He thinks I can't defend myself, just because of the way he found me!" she raised her arms then brought them down in the dirt, leaving sizable dents in the sand, Piccolo frowned  
  
"How did he find you, he didn't say much" she blushed suddenly  
  
"Oh some idiot spiked my drink and put a knife to Sheme's throat! And they- they, I would have killed all three of them if Sheme wasn't at risk, dam it! I didn't mean to tell you that!" Piccolo frowned  
  
"Well you did, I won't say anything" she smiled weakly  
  
"Thanks" he smirked  
  
"Get up girl, you look like an imbecile" she scowled, though her eyes were a dead giveaway of her former state  
  
"Come on, the others will be meeting soon, that's where I was heading, you looked like you were drunk girl" she scowled again  
  
"I look worse now" she told him dejectedly, he nodded  
  
"That's one thing you're right about" he took her arm and hauled her to her feet  
  
"Can you fly" she took a deep breath  
  
"Not without flying into a mountain or two, just leave me, I'll walk or something" Piccolo scowled  
  
"Don't be stupid" she dusted of her rear, it was covered in grass stains  
  
"You ruined my favourite pants!" she said hotly  
  
"You may only have a day to enjoy them, get on" he turned to allow her to climb onto his back, growling in annoyance as she positioned herself more comfortably, she seemed to find new way to be carried every time she fell out of the sky, and this gave her a lot of opportunities. He couldn't fathom why she did not let anyone other than Tien hold her by the waist, it seemed to annoy her. It was probably the easiest way to carry her, as it was impossible for her to block one's view if she panicked, and she did from time to time. He growled again as she placed her hands on his shoulders and used them to pull herself further up, her legs dug into his sides, and her feet hooked around his upper half, he had no intention of supporting her legs with his hands as most people would for what was known as a "piggy back ride" this ridiculous name did not make sense to him, but he shrugged it off  
  
"Ready?"  
  
"Yeah" he took off, flying over the desert area  
  
Miko hiccupped a few times before she got herself under control, she was a wreck, she was also aware she was filthy after being dropped in the dirt, her nose was also aching, geezuz Piccolo was as solid as Tien, she inwardly winced  
  
"Drop me here" she said softly, remembering Piccolo's sensitive ears. He nodded, they were flying over a grassy area, covered in the occasional tree, meadows spreading for a couple of miles, Miko's eyes were aching and she had no intention of returning in her bedraggled state. Piccolo landed with a thud and she slid the nearly three feet down to land on her feet,  
  
"Thanks, I just want to sort myself out before I join you guys" he nodded  
  
"You'll be alright?" he asked, not changing his expression or tone. She nodded, waving as he jumped into the air  
  
Tien sat on a rock on the Briefs' estate, the rest of the Z fighters were grouped a little way away, making strategies for every possible situation they could think of. He sat expressionlessly, staring ahead, why wouldn't she listen? Why couldn't she understand, he would die to protect her but if he couldn't then what would happen to her? Not only was she earth's only hope, she was the love of his life. He couldn't lose her, he wouldn't lose her, if he had to tie her down she would stay out of it, they would find a way to beat her twin without her, if he had to die to do it. A shadow blocked out the light above him  
  
Gohan started at the sight of Tien's face, there were no tears, but he was so white he could have been dead, his skin was pulled tight, making is eyes stand out even further, his jaw was taut, stressed, Gohan felt sure if he had had hair it would be falling out  
  
"You ok?" Tien nodded  
  
"Just worried"  
  
About what might happen? Hey where's Miko? She hasn't turned up yet" Tien shook his head  
  
"I don't know"  
  
"Did you guys have a fight or something?" Tien shook his head  
  
"It doesn't matter"  
  
"Tien, she's a warrior too, you can't let your personal feelings get to you, she'll be alright, I mean look what she's done in the past. Believe me, it never gets easier. I mean, I've watched my dad fight for earth so many times and it still scares me witless but you get to realise that they have a right to take a stand for what is right as well" Tien shook his head  
  
"She doesn't stand a chance"  
  
"Neither do we, but I'd say that she knows that if we lose there's no doubt she'll die, as will the rest of us, but she'll want to die fighting" Tien sighed and shook his head  
  
"I don't know if I can watch her fight for her life Gohan, I just don't"  
  
"It looks like you don't have much of a choice, short of knocking her senseless, which you could never do, you'd stand no chance of holding her back"  
  
Miko splashed water over her face, hoping the cold would return her to some semblance of normalcy, she glared at her reflection in the water, her face was pale and her eyes were still blue and swollen, she wondered what her sister was doing  
  
Just outside earths atmosphere, behind the moon, a sultry voice "hmmed"  
  
"I am waiting sister, there is something that must be done before we meet, I wonder how you would feel if I killed that boyfriend of yours hmm? No you would not be pleased, maybe that little brat, how dare you? Women such as ourselves do not dote on children, ahh but sister, we will enjoy ruling the universe, we will be the masters, men shall no longer be the ruling species" pale fingers rolled a silvery coloured earring  
  
"Why did you give away your earring, it is your only link to your heritage. No matter, you still have the other two, " the earring exploded in the pale palm  
  
"I wonder why they believe I would harm them if they gave you up easily, trust your instincts sister, they will not let you live" the last words were almost a hiss  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
"The world passes by me  
  
I with you beside me  
  
Melting into the dark  
  
Time hounds me Chasing me Like a hound on a blood trail  
  
Blood from my bleeding heart And fear  
  
Fear  
  
Fear  
  
Gods the fear  
  
I melt into the darkness Forget about me  
  
Leave me be  
  
Leave me be Please?  
  
I cry  
  
I die  
  
I plead  
  
Leave me be?  
  
My last words A desperate call as I draw my last breath  
  
Don't let me fall"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER FOURTY: The fifth hour  
  
Miko straightened up. She rose unsteadily into the air and swooped away, using all of her recovered ki to hold onto flight, after twenty minutes Capsule Corp came into view  
  
Goku paced, where the heck was Miko? She should be with them, he suddenly looked up flicker of ki came from the west, even as her ki had grown she was still hard to sense, she had taken to training with 18, Goku grinned at the thought of the two skimpily dressed fighters decking each other with incredible grace, to eyes who could follow it was more like a dance, Miko had master the use of ki for fighting incredibly quickly, yet her flying was still as wonky as it had been the day she had learned to steer, well half learned, but when she upset she suddenly became extremely accurate. She was a strange one. Unnoticed by the others he rose into the air  
  
Miko felt Goku approach. She sighed and pulled up, she was tired and sore, all the aches of being forcibly dropped from several feet above her own height coming back to her, she was in no suitable condition for battle. Goku slowed to a halt next to her  
  
"Good you're her-hey what happened" he peered at her worriedly, Miko cursed her eyes, a dead giveaway she had been crying, she hated crying but she was so human she couldn't hold them back forever  
  
"You ok?" Goku was staring at her. She stared anywhere but his face, the ground a passing cloud, his shirt, his boot, her own  
  
"Did you hear me?" he persisted, she shook her head  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"It doesn't matter" she said hollowly  
  
"Yeah, it does, did you and Tien have a fight"  
  
Goku steeped back as she growled in exasperation  
  
"Why does everyone assume that because I look like shit that it's because of that stupid hulking idiot of a two celled organism!" Goku didn't trying to understand what she just said, settling for knowing she was annoyed  
  
"Ok" he said slowly  
  
  
  
"So what is it?" she took several deep breaths  
  
"Has anyone ever considered that through all of this, it's my sister you're planning to kill destroy hurt or maim" she ticked of the word on her fingers  
  
"My sister! MY TWIN!! Until eight months ago I was just a weird looking teenager with a kid to look after!! Then two idiots grabbed me out of a street and my whole life changes, some scrawny green kid tells me I have to save earth! by killing my twin! who I never knew I had until I had to find her, need I go on!" she spat the words at him, Goku gaped  
  
"If it bothered you so much why didn't you say something"  
  
"Oh excuse me I was a little preoccupied with jumping off towers eight miles up running from all powerful idiots who wanted me dead and then fighting those all powerful idiots" she spat, her voice rising even higher, Goku inched away  
  
"Ok I get it" he said quietly. She suddenly dropped to the ground landing like a cat. he Goku landed next to her  
  
"You gonna be ok in time?" he asked, she was a wreck, he couldn't picture her saving the world in her condition. She took another deep breath  
  
"Yeah, I just need to get cleaned up" Goku nodded, taking her arm,  
  
"Maybe you should take a senzu bean as well, you look like you've had a fall or two" he pulled her to her feet carefully, she nodded  
  
"Flying into mountains does that to you" Goku grinned, she never could seem to fly accurately enough to avoid even mountains of all things. He lifted into the air, she half flew leaning some of her weight onto him, he placed two fingers to his head and they flashed out of sight  
  
Miko blinked, they were inside Capsule Corp, Goku grinned at her  
  
"Bulma's outside, I'll tell her you're just getting cleaned up ok?" she nodded and dragged herself down the unfamiliar corridor, finding her way to the corridor that housed her room She smiled, seeing the large poster of herself in the roman gear Bulma had stuck on the wall of her room as she entered. She opened the wardrobe and found all her clothes as she had left them. She pulled out everything, trying to find something suitable to fight in, she had used track pants and jogging tops to train but they would afford no protection and were liable to get caught if she were in a room as opposed to the open air. She tossed the many fashion items all over the place, she found nothing, she grabbed a pair of skatie jeans and a denim vest to go over a loose white singlet. She strolled to the bathroom that always seemed immaculate no matter what state she left it in, she suspected Bulma had more servo bots than she let on.  
  
Bulma turned to face Goku  
  
"Oh hey, seen Miko yet?"  
  
"She flew in a while ago" Goku said quietly  
  
"How come we didn't see her?"  
  
"Oh she wanted to get cleaned up first, she said she was gonna get changed and shower then come out k?"  
  
"Yeah. No problem here" Bulma retuned to arguing with Vegeta over whether she would come or not  
  
Miko stripped quickly, feeling all her aches every time she moved, she stepped under the water and turned the temperature up to just below what would burn her skin, she had a remarkably high heat tolerance. With the water relaxing her muscles she scrubbed vigorously after a relaxing five minutes of standing. She wrinkled her nose as the dirt from her hands and feet swirled down the plug hole, she scowled at the scratches on her arms, she had flown into more than a mountain, a few forests had been decimated as she passed through them, simply bashing her way through before she managed to pull up. Ten minutes later she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and stepped out. She ran a brush through her wet hair and dried off quickly. She slipped into her clothes carefully, wary of ripping them in her strength. Once dressed she ran a brush through her hair again and then plaited it carefully, she tied the thick rope and took a pair of scissors and sheared of ten inches off the brushed end then wove the shorn locks, Maori style, into a bracelet, this she slipped around her slender wrist. She then split her hair into several smaller plaits, wrapping them round her head to rest in a smooth shiny barrier around her skull. Next she went to the bottom draw of the vanity and pulled out a head piece and a single earring, the silvery band made up a sort of upside down tiara, in the middle of the basic shape a shining yellow pearl hung, identical to the earring. She slipped it over her controlled bangs and it seemed to sink through her hair, resting on her ears. She placed the earring in her left ear and studied herself in the mirror, it seemed to shimmer and a vision of herself with her face shrouded in darkness in long heavy robes with her hair in a single braid to her waist appeared, she stepped back and the mirror immediately jumped back to her original appearance, she took a deep breath and turned to go find Gohan  
  
A pair of exquisitely painted lips curled  
  
"My sister, you at least know they are of value, you have much to learn little sister" the purple woman scuttled in again  
  
"We will be ready in three hours your majesty"  
  
"Good" the icy voice said  
  
"You do not need to worry about locating her any longer, I have found her myself" the purple woman bowed  
  
"Your majesty has done better than the best scientists in the universe  
  
"You may go Karva, I am in no mood for flattery"  
  
"Thank you your majesty" the purple woman left the room quickly  
  
Gohan felt a tap on his shoulder, he gaped; she was wearing jewellery similar to Zarbon's  
  
"Where'd you get those" he said unsteadily  
  
"Never mind, listen I need a favour, I have no clothes I can fight in, do you have anything that would fit me?" I mean everyone else is either ten sizes too big or ten too small, you're at least within my size range" Gohan grinned; he was in fact most likely three times her size, though she had a point; they were all male apart from 18 who did not need gi in any case and most easily twice her width, he grinned, thinking of Miko in Piccolo's or his fathers gi, it did not bring the most desirable image to mind, he shook his head amusedly and wondered how many times his own gi sash would fit around her waist, twice at least  
  
"Go ask Piccolo"  
  
"Huh? I hardly think he's have anything in my size, for Christ's sake he's two feet taller than me, and most likely twice my width, geez, his waist is larger than my shoulders" Gohan grinned wider  
  
"Come on I'll show you" he took her hand and led her over to where Piccolo was leaning against a tree  
  
"Hey Piccolo" the green man looked up  
  
"Miko needs something to wear for battle"  
  
"And what do you expect me to do about it"  
  
"Come on, please" he scowled and stared at Miko for a second, her body suddenly glowed blue. She jumped back and the glow faded.  
  
"Thanks" Gohan said  
  
Miko stared at herself, she grinned and thanked Piccolo then strolled away, testing her new clothes, she found a grassy spot, no one looked up; too absorbed in plans to kill her twin, she was most definitely not ok with this, but she had no choice, it was fight or die, or both. She studied her clothing, the first layer was a tight thin cat suit that acted as a second skin, over that was a gi shirt, the light material following the same pattern as Piccolo's, only with a much higher neck line and lower down a skirt of sorts was wrapped around her, it was knee length with splits up to the waist band, allowing easy movement, the cat suit itself was the colour of her hair contrasting to the blue of the gi shirt and the skirt. The skirt was made of considerably thicker material than the top but it was still remarkably light. Running around the edges of the skirt was a ribbing of blood red, she grinned. On her feet were strong supple leather boots, they followed the slender shape of her legs up to an inch and a half below her knees, they were patterned with intricate twines of darker leather and hidden in tiny compartments were many of hidden weapons, small knives, throwing disks, jagged edged disks. The cat suit had thin but strong and flexible hip and shoulder pads and wrist bands, they were flexible but strong, there was a leather strap across her chest holding a slightly longer and wider than normal katana in a beautiful tapestried sheath across her shoulder blades, she found a long fighting stick in three hinged pieces strapped to the back of her right calf, outside her boots, there were knuckle dusters and leather fingerless gloves to protect her knuckles, she noted the narrow patches of material that appeared be fancy stitching were in fact cases holding narrow knifes, the was a cord she could pull and they would shoot up to wedge themselves above her fist, becoming part of her knuckle dusters. There was a small rapier wrapped in leather hidden to appear like a clip in her hair, there was also a sort of leather coil hanging from her waist. A kind of necklace hung around her neck, though she discovered the beads were actually little crackers, doing small damage when impacted with something but enough to cause pain, she tucked it out of sight. The waist band of the skirt was just below her waist, low enough so she could bend easily but high enough to not hinder her legs. she grinned the outfit was perfect, she danced back to Piccolo  
  
Piccolo looked up and scowled as he saw her approach  
  
"I'm not doing it again if you think it's wrong" he said, she grinned  
  
"Actually I came to ask if there were any more weapons I should know about" he smirked  
  
"In the katana sheath is a fold together cross bow for long distance shooting, if the knifes should not work there are tiny points on the knuckle dusters that will extend an inch each when you press the little button on your palm, each of the hip and shoulder pads hold a piece of metal which fit together to make a strong but light shield, on the inside of your thigh there is a small throwing knife and four fold out metal fans are concealed in the tassels of the skirt, one hanging from each corner, I take it you found the weapons in your hair and boots?"  
  
"Yup. But geez am I that weak?" he nodded grimly  
  
"The clothes themselves will deflect minor attacks and the bodysuit itself is unbreakable, after a few knocks it will let an attack through but still act as a visible covering" Miko grinned, how thoughtful of him to think of her dignity, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, he started as she danced away  
  
"Thanks again" leaving him blushing furiously  
  
Goku noticed Miko striding over to him in clothes that only Piccolo could have created  
  
"Hey! Nice" he said approvingly  
  
"Thanks, but geez these things have more weapons than threads, there's over thirty hidden weapons, not to mention the ones you can actually see, I'm not that weak am I?"  
  
"Well it depends how you look at it, you're incredibly fast for the level of your ki but then again every female fighter seems to be, and besides he's probably just worried about you"  
  
"Gee thanks. I really hate chauvinism" Goku grinned  
  
"At least he made them for you at all" she shrugged  
  
"Now where's that sensu bean" he noted her eyes were still shot with blue. A strange contrast to the golden pupils and fine defined eyebrows  
  
"Here ya go, we got a whole bag, Karin was saving them up for today" he opened the bag hanging from his waist and pulled out the small vegetable, she took it and popped it in her mouth  
  
"Ugh, they taste like crow crap" she said creatively, Goku grinned as her body seemed to swell for an instant then returned to normal.  
  
"Hey cool" she said, flexing an arm, and lifting her leg, yoga fashion to straighten out directly beside her head, she was effectively doing vertical splits, she took her hand away and left her leg there  
  
"I'm just stretching" she said in answer to Goku's stare, he couldn't help but marvel at her flexibility, more and more over the last seven months, since they had spent the six months in the hyperbolic time chamber he had been wondering how genuine she was, after all when he really thought about it, little things just didn't add up, they were so minor he would not normally have noticed them had he not seen Dende's concern when she was around. She sighed and brought her leg down slowly, bending her knee so as not to hit him in the head, she repeated the process with her other leg, balancing perfectly and chatting about trivial things as if she did this every day, and Goku suspected as she began to stretch the way he or anyone else would, she probably did, he grinned as she straightened up  
  
"Maybe I should carry those" she indicated the brown bag  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well if you're busy fighting then what're you gonna do if they get incinerated, besides they're in plain view, too easy to guess what they're for" he nodded and handed her the bag  
  
"But where will you hide them?" he asked, searching her clothes for a hidden pocket, she grinned  
  
"Never you mind" she turned around  
  
Miko pulled open the high tight collar of the cat suit, the opened the bag and dropped the beans in to rest in the hidden pockets sewn into her bra, this was not Piccolo's doing, she had used them to store dope in the past when she had needed money for Sheme, though she had never used it. They fitted perfectly, invisible underneath the loose gi shirt, but if it was blown off they could be spotted, but not unless one knew what to look for, she turned around and handed Goku the empty bag  
  
"Where?" he asked wonderingly  
  
"Geezuz you're naive" she told him, striding over to the picnic table Bulma was setting  
  
Bulma looked up to see Miko in full battle gear striding towards her, she grinned  
  
"Lookin good sister, I sent Sheme and Trunks around the back to play"  
  
"Cool, hey listen, I need a favour, do you have an encapsulised gun?"  
  
"Yeah it' a ki gun, it captures ki and concentrates it, I've never tested it why?"  
  
"Keep it near you, I want you to come with me, I don't know what'll happen but stay near, I'm gonna need your help if you want to come"  
  
"I was coming anyway, there is no way I'm letting my husband go into battle unless I come to supervise"  
  
"Cool, I know she's going to land in a massive ship, but I also know, most of the army she has with her can't breath earth's air, but them being her most powerful she brought them anyway, they'll have breathing suits on right?"  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"So, while the others are busy being macho men, we sneak around and suffocate half her army, leaving the strongest without breathable air, and we can shut down the power to her ship if we get inside too, which means she can't get away" Bulma's eyes were sparkling  
  
"If I encapsulise any weapons I can get my hands on we could have some real fun, though I daresay you've got weapons hidden anywhere they'll fit" her eyes swept the outfit, sizing up possible places and reasons for the loose sleeveless shirt over the cat suit  
  
"Piccolo's doing actually, there's about thirty or so hidden ones and five visible ones, he's actually got quite an imagination, but he didn't think of one thing"  
  
"What?"  
  
"This may be through embarrassment though you see. Ages ago I sewed hidden pocket to the inside of my bra, which means I can hide the sensu beans"  
  
"What were you using them for before"  
  
"I used to deal when I needed money though I never used, it's one of the few places they won't find it, and my perfume hid it from the dogs"  
  
"Ingenious, you had a lot to deal with back then"  
  
"Yeah, but I survived, and Sheme's doing great, and besides it gives me extra cleavage" Bulma laughed  
  
"I'll get going"  
  
"I'll finish up here for you, we have about three hours before she gets here" Bulma strode away. Grinning from ear to ear; she never got over the thrill of making things that could top her husband, she had a few surprises for him.  
  
Vegeta turned to see Bulma striding over to him; she was in a skin tight body suit  
  
"I told you woman you are not coming!" he half yelled, Gohan and Krillin glanced at him. He straightened his armour. She stopped a few feet from him, grinning from ear to ear  
  
"Oh yes I am"  
  
"No you are not, you will only get in the way!" he yelled, the real reason was he wouldn't be able to handle seeing her hurt, though he would never admit this  
  
"Actually, I have a purpose, she's on a ship, and half her army can't breath this air" she pulled a capsule from her belt, it was strapped around her hips, it looked more like an ammunition belt, the dark red contrasting strongly with the midnight blue of her body suit  
  
"This contains a virus and a terminal, I shut down their systems, they have nothing to breathe and they die, then over half her army is gone, and I have a few other surprises" Vegeta growled furiously  
  
"I don't give a damn, if I have to tie you down you will stay here!" Miko tapped him on the shoulder  
  
"You may as well save your breath, it won't stop her, and anyway she's actually better protected than you are" he scowled  
  
"What would you know, pathetic woman!" he heard a female version of his own growl  
  
"Actually, if you bothered to ask" Bulma said, pronouncing each word with a bite  
  
"You would find that this suit is twice the strength of your armour" he scowled darkly  
  
"Fine woman, but if you get in the way I will fire whether you get hit or not" he threatened, she shrugged  
  
"Whatever" her hair was pulled into a similar style to Miko's. Vegeta turned to snarl at the smirking girl  
  
"You did this" he hissed  
  
"No actually, Bulma was going to come anyway, I just gave her a few ideas, she's actually better off than any of us" Vegeta snarled and turned back to sorting through possible attack plans in his head. His ears picked up her boots walking away  
  
In the throne covered by shadow, the figure of a shapely woman was becoming visible  
  
"Dear sister, I can sense your thoughts now, they have told you little of their plan then, how clever, though you are too weak at this point to be of any use, though I must say your speed is admirable, you went in eight months from the ki of an extremely strong and limber human to become the equal of any of their number though none of you know that yet, it will take something to trigger you, release that energy, you have proven by the mere act of flying that you have great potential but even after this you will need extensive training, it is a pity you will not join me willingly, but still, maybe you will with some convincing we will rule together as it was when we were but children. Maybe you have plans, I sense the guardian blocking my attempts to reach you, no matter, you will come to me, you will if you want that pathetic boyfriend of yours to live, maybe he could live under your feet as a lapdog or a toy. Never mind, such small details can be dealt to later, ahh I see there are those among them who can be controlled, the warrior Vegeta, the traitor, and his mate I see, well this is getting better every minute, my, my sister you have sentimental friends, of course this make everything so much easier, I have searched seven years for you, you have done little with your life I see, well we shall fix that shan't we sister"  
  
Miko sat on the grass fidgeting, she had kept thoughts of Tien from her mind until now, she had lied to Goku, but she was getting sick of everyone reading her like a book, she was a private person. Suddenly a voice echoed into her mind  
  
"Sister" her own voice hissed  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"MIKO!" there was a crackling sound and king Kai's voice echoed into her head  
  
"Miko! Listen ignore her voice, Dende and I will hold her, don't listen, she is near, very near! Get the others ready!" there was another crackling sound and then nothing, she focused hard  
  
"Dende?"  
  
"What Miko?"  
  
"What the hell's going on?"  
  
"Close your mind, we'll hold her"  
  
"Ok, but don't risk yourself"  
  
"We'll be fine, now hurry"  
  
"Good luck" silence. Miko jumped to her feet, suddenly Tien appeared before her  
  
"We have to talk" she nodded  
  
"Listen. She's coming, there's no time"  
  
"No, I'm sorry" she nodded  
  
"Me too, we'll have to leave it at that, were made up ok" he nodded and ran with her to Goku  
  
Goku looked up as Miko skidded to a halt  
  
"She's coming!" she cried, they all heard and looked up, as if on cue a huge shape covered the sun's light, the massive ship entered the atmosphere in a ball of fire. It hovered a hundred feet above the ground. the Z fighters stood close together, waiting . Each mentally preparing themselves for what was coming, the ship was identical to the one Freiza had come to earth in. it hovered for a second, the burning heat from it's engines washing over them al them shot into the distance, Goku rose into the air  
  
"Come on"  
  
A/N: DUN DUN!!!!  
  
Just one review peoples and I write the drama. It only gets mre confusing. Review! Review! 


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